Investigating the Relationship between the Perceptions of Principals and Teachers on Site-Based Decision Making

Abstract

The purpose of this record of study was to investigate the nature of relationships between the perceptions of principals and teachers on site-based decision making (SBDM) and to uncover patterns existing in relationships between and among state school ratings, principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of SBDM decision making at their schools, and school outcomes of discipline referrals and attendance percentages. The investigator chose four schools with different state school ratings as sites for investigating these relationships. Participants in the study were principals and teachers selected from four school types: Exemplary, Academically Recognized, Academically Acceptable, and Academically Unacceptable.

The research design was a non-experimental and descriptive design focused on the four selected elementary school types. The descriptive statistic of mean was used to determine the strengths of relationships between these variables. Results of the investigation identified various trends between principals’ and teachers’ perceptions about SBDM at their schools. Outcomes from discipline referrals and attendance percentages in the four types of schools did not show a noteworthy difference.

Overall, the data were an indication that elementary principals and teachers embrace the idea of SBDM at levels between 30% and 69% or at a higher level of 70% or above, regardless of the state’s rating of school type, number of student discipline referrals, or percentage of student attendance. This was demonstrated by the vast number of “strongly agree” and “agree” responses to survey items among the four schools with different ratings.

Using this study as a baseline, recommendation is made to conduct a study of all district schools using a more precise survey to determine the effects of principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of SBDM on student achievement. Additional recommendation is made for a study to determine whether common variables other than SBDM exists in high performing Texas elementary schools that could possibly have an impact on student achievement. Although achievement objectives and instructional activities may vary as described in a state’s curriculum, this particular research could be accomplished without regard to a particular state.