The Relationship between Perceived Leadership Styles of Principals and Teacher Retention and Satisfaction

Abstract

Approximately 33% of beginning public school teachers in the United States leave the profession before completing their first year in the classroom [1] and nearly 50% of new teachers leave the profession after only 5 years [2]. The literature review explicated factors of the possible interrelationship between teacher satisfaction, retention, and leadership of building principals. Data were collected through cross-sectional surveys that measured attitudes and practices [3]. The independent variable was the leadership traits of the building principal. The dependent variable was job satisfaction that was measured by surveys distributed as the primary instrument for gathering data within the given population. The population for the study was K-12 teachers in five school districts from the coastal region of Virginia. A positive correlation was found between teacher job satisfaction and the principal’s leadership score; r (298) = .63, p = .001. The findings support the study’s main hypothesis. In addition, in comparing the unique contribution of the school that the teacher worked at and the teachers’ perception of their principal’s  leadership, leadership style had 17 times more explaining power (35.8% vs. 2.0%) forthe variation in the teachers’ job satisfaction score. Thus, the key finding of the study indicated a relationship between perceived leadership styles of principals and teacher retention and  satisfaction. Preservice and in-service K-12 educational leaders may be able to apply the findings from the study to help improve teacher retention.