A study of teachers' and principals' perceptions of shared decision making in Georgia charter schools

• Main Author: Merriwether, Regina D.W.
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 1998
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/3425; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4948&context=dissertations

This study examined Georgia charter school teachers' and principals' perceptions of the ideal and actual practices in the eight key areas of shared decision making: budgeting, curriculum/instruction, facilitating procedures and structures, goals/vision/mission, operations, staffing, staff development, and standards and their overall impressions of shared decision making. The researcher based this study on the contention that teachers' and principals' perceptions would differ on the importance of and the extent to which shared decision making was being implemented in Georgia charter schools. A quantitative approach was used to conduct this study. The instrument used in this study was a revision of Russell, Cooper, and Greenblatt's TIPS 2 survey. The population was the sample for this study. The data collected from the teachers and principals of fourteen Georgia charter schools on the two-part Likert-type questionnaire were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of variance statistical tool. The researcher found that there was not a statistically significant difference in Georgia charter school teachers' and principals' perceptions of the actual practices in shared decision making. It was discovered that there were statistically significant differences in (1) teachers' perceptions of the ideal and actual practices in shared decision making, (2) principals' perceptions of the ideal and actual practices in shared decision making, and (3) teachers' and principals' perceptions of the ideal of shared decision making. One of the major conclusions from the findings in this study was that charter schools need to explore and examine the effectiveness of their structures and processes for shared decision making. It can be concluded that both teachers and principals differ among themselves and with each other in their knowledge base of shared decision making and how it should be implemented. It can also be concluded that teachers and principals in charter schools must experience a paradigm shift in their traditional roles: teachers must start expanding their focus beyond the realms of their classrooms, and principals must learn to lead by influence rather than by the power of their position.