The readiness for distributed leadership in Catholic school academies and Catholic parish schools in the diocese of Brookly

The researcher's objective in this quantitative study was to determine and compare the distributed leadership readiness of Catholic academy schools and Catholic parish schools in the diocese of Brooklyn. As school budgets have shrunk steadily and parochial schools are faced with issues of falling enrollment, rising costs, and other systemic conditions, school leaders are rethinking their strategies on how to use their scarce resources. The introduction of a distributed leadership model has offered a way for a principal to increase the collective responsibility of teachers as well as a way to rethink how all resources are used.;The Distributed Leadership Readiness Scale was used to measure the extent of usage of the four dimensions of distributed leadership: vision, mission, and goals; school culture; shared responsibility; and leadership practices. These four dimensions were used to identify the readiness for distributed leadership in Catholic schools. A random sample of eight Catholic academy schools and eight Catholic parish schools in the diocese of Brooklyn was used to survey 259 teacher and 16 principals. The results of the survey were aggregated and analyzed with SPSS. An independent samples t-test was used to determine the differences in the readiness of distributed leadership between Catholic academy schools and Catholic parish schools.;The results of this study reveal a readiness for distributed leadership in Catholic academy schools and Catholic parish schools. There was an indication of the four dimensions of distributed leadership in both school types. It was also determined through an independent samples t-test, even though Catholic academies showed a slightly higher use of the four dimensions of distributed leadership, that the results of the test were concluded to be statistically insignificant in comparing the means of both groups.;The researcher focuses on the Distributed Leadership Model, including the four dimensions of distributed leadership and its usage in the diocese of Brooklyn among Catholic academy schools and Catholic parish schools, as well as possibly bringing a new light to the decision-making process in Catholic schools. The hope is to determine if shared decision making, otherwise known as distributed leadership, can be a viable and useful model in Catholic education.