Volume 3 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Research - Page 41

Journal of K-12 Educational Research 39 autonomy, support of professional development, provision of adequate resources, and rewards and recognition. Even though the current study found all six leadership behaviors to positively impact teacher engagement, the size of the impact was not consistent. Table 1 provides the statistical impact of each behavior. According to the statistical analysis, support of professional development had the greatest impact on teacher engagement. Both the Pearson r product-moment coefficient and the Spearman’s rank coefficient showed support of professional development as the biggest factor in improving teacher engagement. Table 2 shows the ranking of the leadership behaviors’ impact on teacher engagement by the Pearson r product-moment coefficient and the Spearman’s rank coefficient analysis. Recommendations The current study allowed the researcher to investigate the impact of leadership behaviors on teacher engagement. Significant positive relationships were established between each of the leadership behaviors and teacher engagement. Therefore, the researcher makes the following recommendations for practice and future research. Recommendations for Practice Teacher engagement has been linked to teacher retention in multiple research studies (Klassen, et al., 2013; Klusmann, Kunter, Trautwein, Ludtke, & Baumert, 2008). The current study linked trust, visionary leadership, shared decision- making and autonomy, support of professional development, provision of adequate resources, and rewards and recognition to teacher engagement. Therefore, school leaders need to find ways to incorporate these six leadership behaviors into their leadership styles and practices. School leaders should reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and determine which of these leadership behaviors they should focus on developing. Support of professional development ranked as the leadership behavior with the greatest impact on teacher engagement. Therefore, school leaders could consider how to best support the professional growth of their teachers. School leaders can focus budget resources towards conferences, workshops, and speakers/ trainers. Additionally, school leaders can incorporate the practice each behavior. Table 1. Summary of Findings by Leadership Behavior Leadership Behavior Pearson r Effect Size Spearman r s Effect Size Trust 0.224 Small 0.291 Small Visionary Leadership 0.274 Small 0.261 Small Shared Decision-Making and Autonomy 0.186 Small 0.210 Small Professional Development 0.324 Medium 0.346 Medium Adequate Resources 0.289 Small 0.319 Medium Rewards and Recognition 0.229 Small 0.234 Small Acc rding to the statistical analysis, support of profes ional development ha the greates impact on teacher engagement. Both the Pearson r product-moment coefficient and the Spearman’s rank coefficient showed support of professional development as the biggest factor in improving teacher engagement. Table 2 shows the ranking of the leadership behaviors’ impact Table 1. Summary of Findings by Leadership Behavior on teacher engage t by the Pearson r pr duct-moment coeff ci nt and the Sp arman’s rank coefficient analysis. Table 2. Ranking of Leadership Behaviors' Impact by Statistical Analysis Leadership Behavior Pearson r ranking Spearman r s ranking Professional Development 1st 1st Adequate Resources 2nd 2nd Visionary Leadership 3rd 4th Rewards and Recognition 4th 5th Trust 5th 3rd Shared Decision-Making and Autonomy 6th 6th Recommendations Table 2. Ranking of Leadership Behaviors' Impact by Sta stical Analysis