| High schools nationwide are in need of significant reform and redesign, with expected upgrades in the rigor of content, relevance of academics, and positive relationships. This study examined relationships, particularly with respect to school improvement efforts, through an examination that measured charter high school leaders' strength of personality as correlated with School Performance Indicators under the Michigan's School Report Card system.School leaders completed a Process Communication Model RTM (PCM) Personality Pattern Inventory (PPI), available through Kahler Communications, Inc. Data on School Performance Indicators were provided by the Michigan Department of Education and AdvancED.Statistical Bivariate Regression Analysis determined to what extent there was a relationship between personality strengths and School Performance Indicators. Descriptive statistics revealed that there were predominant personality strengths among secondary charter school leaders as follows: (1) The Workaholic part of one's personality, (2) the Persister part of one's personality, and (3) the Reactor part of one's personality, as defined by the Process Communication Model.Analysis revealed moderate negative correlations between leaders with higher strength of Workaholic personality and Overall School Performance. Conclusions also suggested that charter school leaders reflect the existing demographic of educators in their Base personalities, yet they are disproportionately more predominant in Persister Phase personality. Charter school leaders strong in Persister personality also have moderate, positive correlations with their Promoter strength of personality. Other conclusions include that a leader's Workaholic personality strength has an adverse impact on three subsections, or Strand areas, of the Michigan School Performance Indicators: Teaching for Learning, Personnel and Professional Learning, and School and Community Relations.Recommendations for future research include conducting similar studies using a larger sample size, so that Multiple Regression Analysis can control for other factors that may influence school success. Data collection recommendations include streamlining data collection with school leaders. Studying the Persister strength of personality further is also recommended, yet with an expansion of the sample demographic to the entire K-12 Michigan school population. Finally, the researcher recommends continued research in the Process Communication Model, particularly with respect to how leaders' shifting their personality energies with staff and students influences achievement in schools. |
