Teachers' Perceptions of Principal Versus Assistant Principals' Leadership: An Organizational Justice and Attribution Theory Approach

• In Event: Organizational Theory: Promise, Practice, and Policy

Abstract

Literature on how assistant principals’ role and teacher outcomes compares with those of principals’ is sparse. Using original survey data, we address whether a gap exists between teachers’ perceptions of fairness from different administrators, and whether these affect teachers’ commitment outcomes. Our structural equation model results suggest that teachers expect considerate interpersonal treatment from principals more than they do from assistant principals. Meanwhile, teachers expect unbiased feedback on their performance from assistant principals more than they do from principals. Our study advances understandings of school leadership specifically and refines organizational justice theory broadly by highlighting nuance in school employees’ differing expectations of managers with different levels of authority.

Authors

• Jennifer Lauren Nelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Joonkil Ahn, University of Arizona

• Karen Hegtvedt