The principal's role as instructional leader: an investigation of the impact on teacher-pupil interaction through inservice

• Main Author: Ponder, Jacquelyn H.
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 1985
• Subjects: Education
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/2704; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4409&context=dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether principals as instructional leaders can influence the teachers' performance in the classroom by conducting inservice for the teachers. The four hypotheses and three research questions which directed the investigation into the problem of the principal's influence on the teachers' performance in the classroom were: There will be no statistically significant difference between the amount of teacher- pupil interactions in the classrooms of teachers who received inservice from the principal and those who received inservice from the district office resource person. There will be no statistically significant difference between the amount of teacher-pupil interaction in the classrooms of teachers who receive inservice from the principals and those who receive no inservice. There will be no statistically significant difference between the amount of teacher-pupil interaction in the classrooms of teachers who receive inservice from the district office resource person and those who receive no inservice. There will be no statistically significant difference in the engaged rate of time-on-task of students in the classrooms of teachers receiving inservice and in the classrooms of teachers receiving no inservice. Will the teachers receiving inservice from their principal have a better attitude toward the inservice than the teachers who receive inservice from the resource teacher? What are the attitudes of teachers receiving inservice on the importance of teacher-pupil interaction and student achievement? Will the students in the principal's inservice experimental classes have a higher rate of time-on-task than the district office person's inservice? The subjects of the study were three groups of teachers; one group inserviced by principals, one group inserviced by a resource person, and one controlled group. During the classroom observations both the teacher and students were rated. The Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument was used to rate the teacher and the Engagement Rate Form, the students. The teachers gave their opinion of the inservices on the Inservice Evaluation Opinion Survey. The main findings were as follows: The four null hypotheses were accepted. 2. The principals' group received the higher percentage of positive responses from the teachers about their attitude toward the principal and district office person conducting inservice. 3. The principals' group received the higher percentage of positive responses from the teachers about their attitude toward the importance of teacher-pupil interaction in the classroom.