Perceptions of principals' behavior as rated by teachers, students, and principals in the junior high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee

The problem addressed by this study was to determine whether differences existed between principals and teachers, principals and students, and teachers and students in terms of their perceptions of the behavior of principals in selected junior high schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Comparisons were based on teachers', students', and principals' responses on the Likert Profile of a School Questionnaire. The responses were analyzed based on measured characteristics of schools, i.e., large schools versus small schools, suburban schools versus inner-city schools, predominantly Black schools versus predominantly white schools, and schools with substantial increases in enrollment versus schools with substantial decreases in enrollment.

The subjects in this study were 86 percent of the principals (N = 18), 84 percent of the teachers (N = 244), and 76 percent of the student (N = 4,482) populations of the junior high schools in the school system. Glass and Stanley's (1970) model for the two-factor non-orthogonal analysis of variance was employed to determine differences at the .05 level.

The following conclusions were formulated based upon critical analysis of the data:

1. The appraisals of principals' behavior as rated by teachers were consistently lower than principals' self-appraisals on each organizational variable considered. The appraisals of principals' behavior as rated by students were uniformly lower than that of principals and teachers.
2. Principals' ratings of their own behavior concerning teachers were consistently higher than their ratings concerning students on each variable considered.
3. The divergence in the perceptions of teachers versus students on principal support is related to the racial composition and location of schools.
4. The divergence in the perceptions of students versus teachers on principals' receptivity to subordinates' ideas is related to the racial composition of schools.
5. The divergence in the perceptions of principals versus teachers and principals versus students on principals' receptivity to subordinates' ideas are related to the size of schools.
6. A greater divergence exist in the perceptions of principals versus teachers and principals versus students on the amount of influence subordinates have in large schools when contrasted with the same reference groups in small schools.
7. The divergence in the perceptions of teachers versus students on the amount of influence subordinates have is related to the racial composition of schools.
8. A divergence in the perceptions of principals versus teachers and principals versus students existed in all schools investigated