| School leaders face the challenge of effectively increasing the levels of student achievement. Principals are subjected to increasingly high demands for student accountability. Urban secondary schools exist in an environments characterized by high percentages of students who live in poverty, diverse mixtures of racial, ethnic and linguistic groups, densely populated neighborhoods with limited access to cultural and institutional resources. Principal leadership has been identified as the second strongest predictor of a school's effect on student results. The problem is the lack of or limited effective leadership practices among middle and high school urban principals necessary to meet the demands of accountability requirements for increased student achievement. A quantitative methodology with correlational design was used to conduct to examine a relationship between principals' use of Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI360), which measures use of transformational leadership practices. Urban middle and school principals (19) in north central Texas and their selected observers completed the LPI360. Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) was used to determine levels of student achievement and was compared with LPI360 scores. Results of the study demonstrated that a statistically significant relationship existed between principals use of Kouzes and Posner's five exemplary leadership practices: modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, questioning the status quo, enabling others, and encouraging the heart. It is recommended that additional quantitative research on the use of Kouzes and Posner's five practice of exemplary leadership in urban secondary schools. |
