Volume 3 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Research - Page 42

40 of collaborative goal-setting with their faculty and staff. These goals can be related to particular areas of professional growth and include action steps or training needed to achieve the goal. Provision of adequate resources had the second greatest impact on teacher engagement. School leaders carry the responsibility of creating and overseeing the school budget. When teachers have the necessary resources for their jobs, their engagement is higher. Therefore, school leaders can invite teachers into the budgetary process to ensure the leaders understand what resources teachers need to complete their work and align budgeting priorities with their needs. When the board of trustees or search recruiters are interviewing potential heads of school, the candidate’s understanding and mastery of the six identified leadership behaviors should be assessed. Potential interview questions might include the following: How do you support teachers’ professional growth? What is your process for creating and communicating a vision? How do you align budgetary priorities with faculty needs? When beginning a new position, how do you engender trust with faculty, staff, and the community at large? The SLBQ can be revised to allow school leaders other than heads of school to receive feedback from their teachers. For example, the first statement on the SLBQ is, “I trust my Head of School to make decisions in the best interest of the school.” This statement could be revised to say, “I trust my Division Head to make decisions in the best interest of the school,” or “I trust my principal to make decisions in the best interest of the school.” This would allow organizations to determine the effectiveness of school leaders through the perceptions of the teachers. The SLBQ could be expanded into multiple versions: the SLBQ-HOS for heads of school, the SLBQ-DH for division heads, the SLBQ-P for campus principals, and the SLBQ-S for superintendents. School leaders can use the SLBQ to gather feedback from their faculties. The results of the SLBQ could then be used to shape professional development plans or yearly goals for school leaders. In order to track progress and success, the SLBQ could be used yearly to evaluate whether professional development choices are improving the targeted leadership practices. The Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS) offers school leaders a quick and easy way to gauge teacher engagement. Since engagement influences student achievement, it is vital for school leaders to have an understanding of their faculties’ engagement levels. School leaders can ask teachers to take the ETS, analyze the results, and determine what steps, if any, need to be taken to increase teacher engagement. Recommendations for Future Research The current study investigated the relationship between leadership behaviors and teacher engagement in independent schools. Researchers could replicate and expand this study to include teachers in other school settings. The study could be replicated and expanded to include teachers and leaders in parochial schools, public schools, and charter schools. The current study focused on the leadership behaviors of heads of school. Researchers or school leaders could replicate the study to examine the impact of leadership at different levels of school organizations. In independent schools, the SLBQ could be modified to examine the leadership behaviors of division heads, athletic directors, or directors of fine arts. The research study could be expanded to determine if leaders at all leadership levels affect teacher engagement. Using the SLBQ in other research studies would help to further test the content reliability of the instrument. The researcher tested the reliability of the SLBQ through a pilot study, but further use is needed to verify the content reliability. New research instruments need to be tested multiple times to determine effectiveness. Conclusions Teacher engagement has been linked to a variety of positive outcomes for school organizations. When teachers are engaged in their work, teachers are more satisfied with their jobs and teacher retention increases (Hoigaard et al., 2012; Klassen et al., 2012; Klusmann et al., 2008; Parker et al., 2012). Teacher engagement also leads to positive results for students. When students have an engaged teacher leading classroom instruction, both student engagement and student achievement increase (Gordon, 2013; Hastings & Agrawal, 2015; Klassen et al., 2012). Researchers Jennifer Wilson, Ed.D.