Degree Name
EdD (Doctor of Education)
Program
Educational Leadership
Date of Award
August 1994
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the current involvement of principals and teachers in shared decision making as well as desired levels, and to identify the perceived areas of acceptance and non-acceptance by educators. Eight domains of the Teacher Decision Making Instrument: planning, policy, curriculum/instruction, pupil personnel, staff personnel, staff development, school/community relations, and budget management were used to assess the actual and desired levels of participation in shared decision making by the respondents. A random sample was selected from the public schools of Northeast Tennessee. Seventy-five schools were surveyed which included 75 principals and 1632 teachers. Responses were obtained from 59 principals and 1084 teachers at 59 schools. Data were analyzed using t-tests for independent means, t-tests for dependent (correlated) means and analysis of variance. The analysis and interpretation indicated statistically significant differences between teachers' and principals' perceptions of actual participation in shared decision making with principals perceiving a higher level of involvement than teachers. Significant difference was also found between actual and desired levels of participation with higher desired levels especially in the areas of planning, staff personnel, school/community relations and budget management. No significant difference was found between principals' and teachers' perceptions of desired participation in shared decision making. Significant differences were found between groups' desired level of participation in shared decision making based on age, participants' years in the school, and career ladder status level. No significant differences were found between desired levels of participation in shared decision making based on number of years in education, highest education level, and various school compositions.
Document Type
Dissertation - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Hatcher, James M., "Shared Decision-making in the First Educational District of Tennessee: Teachers' and Principals' Perceptions of Actual and Desired Levels of Participation" (1994). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2920. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2920