The effect of supervisor level of authority and leadership style on elementary school climate and teacher job satisfactio

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of supervisors in New Jersey elementary schools. Effectiveness was measured in terms of school climate, supervisor job satisfaction, and teacher job satisfaction as they related to the supervisor's leadership style and level of authority.;Surveys were randomly distributed in schools having supervisors classified into one of four categories determined by leadership style and level of authority. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass and Avolio, 1991) was used to determine the leadership style of the supervisor. Level of authority was determined through responses to a demographics survey.;The dependent variables were measured with the Job Description Index (JDI) and the Organizational Health Inventory for elementary schools (OHI-E) (Hoy and Tarter, 1997). This instrument was modified to reflect the impact of supervisors rather than principals.;The results of the study indicated that teachers did not feel differently about their work or their co-workers no matter who their supervisor was. However, there was significant evidence to suggest that teachers prefer working with supervisors having formal or line authority. The supervisor survey data revealed that line supervisors were more satisfied with their co-workers than were staff level supervisors.;Teacher data indicated that supervisors with line authority and transformational leadership style influenced collegial leadership positively.;The only other significant difference perceived by teachers was on the climate dimension "institutional integrity". Supervisors with staff authority were perceived by teachers to contribute toward a healthy climate, specifically for the dimension "institutional integrity".;In general, teachers and supervisors in this study indicated that supervisors having direct formal authority are more satisfied with their position and are preferred by teachers in New Jersey elementary schools.