Volume 3 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Research - Page 53

Journal of K-12 Educational Research 51 & Simeral, 2016). As a leader’s effectiveness increases, the school climate shifts towards one of positivity and motivation; thus, the students and staff benefit (Kirtman, 2014). Statement of Problem The need for leaders to utilize a variety of practices to build positive school cultures has never been greater, yet transforming school culture is risky, difficult, and scary for many leaders; many fail and leave the profession (Deal & Peterson, 2003). Burkhauser, Gates, Hamilton, and Schuyler-Ikemoto (2012) performed research and determined over 20% of new principals leave the profession within two years. With national reports on underperforming schools, strenuous demands on principals, and an increasing attrition rate of campus leaders, policy makers are realizing the value of continual principal leadership training and development (Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, & Cohen, 2007). Holacka (2011) determined many administrators perceive themselves as being more prepared when they are provided effective development methods. Additionally, a study by Gardner (2016) determined principals perceive mentoring as valuable to leadership improvement, yet little emphasis is given to the mentoring plan. Many industry sectors utilize leadership inventories paired with mentoring programs to objectively develop plans for improvement. Leadership development plans emerge from triangulating data of various inventories. Once the data is triangulated, a leadership development plan can be designed objectively, and when paired with mentoring, a sustainable system for continuous improvement is established. Therefore, with a personalized leadership development plan, principals have support for developing into highly effective leaders who can transform school culture (Fullan, 2014; Gruenert & Whitaker, 2015; Kirtman, 2014). In an effort to support principals in meeting the standards designated in T-PESS, some districts have implemented leadership development plans. Leadership development plans provide a framework for principals to measure their leadership competencies and acquire peer feedback in order to establish an action plan focused on improving their effectiveness as leaders. The utilization of leadership development plans should be explored from the perspective of the principals who use them. The problem is little research has been done to analyze principals’ perceptions of their impact on transforming school culture as it relates to the utilization of leadership development plans. Findings and Interpretation of Results In a qualitative study of a group of district school administrators, five sub-questions were used to explore the guiding research Figure 1. T-PESS principal summary rating form, version 3.0 (ESC Region 13, 2016).