The Intentions of Florida Educational

Leadership Graduate Students to

Pursue Administrative Positions

Dan Eadens, Ed.D.

Problem & Purpose

Districts are concerned about the quality of the applicant pools

Despite the large number of certified candidates, quality administrator applicantsare not applying for positions in schools in certain locations and socio-economic regions

To analyze factors that influence the intentions of educational leadership graduate students currently enrolled in university educational leadership programs in Florida

Research QuestionsIs there a relationship between intent to

seek an assistant principal position and:

Self-assessed Leadership behavior

measured by (LPI)?

Gender?

Number of Credits successfully

completed?

Age?

All above?

Literature

Overproduction

Choose not to work in administration

Lack of qualified willing applicants

Significance

To more fully understand why pools

have perceived quality candidate

shortages using job choice theory as a

frame

To identify self-reported leadership

behavior and intent to practice

To share results to offer DOE, District

Leadership Academies, and University

Programs insight for reform of

selection, recruitment, and retention

Surveys & Sampling

1. (LPI ) Leadership Practices Inventory2. (DIQ) Demographics & Intentions

Questionnaire

--------------------------------------------------------

N=217

Online Survey Monkey and/or Hard

Packets administered to Educational

Leadership M.Ed classes only at USF

(Tampa, Lakeland, St Pete),FSU, NL,

and UCF

Sampling Results Response rate: varied between institutions.

Approx 50% - 50% were Online vs. Hard

Copy in person

46.5% secondary, 62.7% public, 74.7%

teachers

5 to 9 years experience mean;

Guidance/ESE: 25.9%

Mostly 25 to 30 yrs old; skewed Mean age

was 31 to 35 yrs

75.6% Female; 84.3% Caucasian

Data AnalysisRQ1: Between Intent to seek and Leadership

Behavior on LPI?

The Multiple Regression Analysis indicated no significant relationship (p = .715).

The majority of respondents (83.9 %) do intend to seek an assistant principal position upon program completion.

Which level of assistant principal they

intended to become: 52.5% indicated they

will choose an Elementary assistant

principal position. However, most were

Secondary teachers, not Elementary

Data AnalysisRQ2: Between Intent to seek and Gender?

53 male and 164 females respondents. Results of the ANOVA analysis indicated no significant difference. (p = .074).

Since the dependent variable (Intent) was skewed, the variable was transformed using a square root (sqrt) function to see if the outcome could be improved. Based on these results, there might be a significant difference (p = .038) between male and female students and their intent to seek an assistant principal position; females having more intention to seek an assistant principal position.

Data Analysis

RQ3: Between Intent and Number of Credits

completed?

• The results of the Regression Analysis indicated

no significant relationship (p = .251).

• 64.1% rated the influence salary had on their

decision to pursue a degree in educational

leadership as either somewhat (important) or

(one of the primary reasons).

Data Analysis

RQ4: Between Intent to seek and Age?

The Regression Analysis results indicated no significant relationship was found (p = .384).

The (highest) percentage were between 25-30 yrs old.

Data Analysis

RQ5: Relationship between intent and leadership behavior, gender, number of credits completed, and age?

The Multiple Regression Analysis found no individual relationships between predictor and dependent (p = .188).

Open-Ended Data Analysis When do you intend to seek an assistant principal

position? 61.3% claim within two years; 14.3% say they never or it is unknown.

Explain: 74.1% indicated they will wait (to get more experience) to seek a position; 18.8% will seek another position.

Response Category n %

Not Waiting 22 25.9

Waiting: More experience

in current of next position

33 38.8

Waiting: Earn more

degrees, certification, or

professional development

9 10.6

Waiting: Family Related

reasons

8 9.4

Other: Get a district level,

higher ed, DOE, or specific

position

16 18.8

Exploratory Analysis: Trends &

Patterns LPI’s Five Constructs were standardized and

categorized by intensity. Using ANOVA, Construct cases with z-scores Low(≤ -0.5) and High(≥ 0.5) were retained; 34% of cases clustered around the mean were removed. Intent to Seek z-scores (>-1.0) were retained. Those unlikely to intend to seek the position were categorically removed.

DV IV F Sig Mean Low Mean High

High Intentions Encourage 3.465 0.066 4.64 5.03

High Intentions Model 7.490 0.008** 4.54 5.22

High Intentions Enable 2.809 0.098 4.42 4.86

High Intentions Inspire 2.922 0.092 4.70 5.12

High Intentions Challenge 4.355 0.040* 4.65 5.16

Note. * = p < .05, ** = p < .01

CONCLUSIONS &

IMPLICATIONS

Influence of Gender

The estimated marginal means of intentions for

females were not significantly higher than

males; this means that females do not indicate

stronger intentions to seek an assistant

principal position upon program completion than

males.

This study supports and affirms the literature

that cites there are increases in females

pursuing educational leadership degrees.

Influence of Degree Progress

Strahan and Wilson (2006) claimed that proximity to a future possible self has an impact on current motivation to act in ways to achieve future goals. However, in this study, the number of credits successfully completed and degree progress was not shown to be a significant factor in determining intentions towards seeking an assistant principal position.

In the DIQ, 64.1% of respondents rated the influence salary had on their decision to pursue a degree in educational leadership as either (somewhat important) or (one of the primary reasons).

Influence of Age Data in this study did not support age as

having a significant impact on graduate student intentions to seek an assistant principal position.

The age ranges in this study ranged up to greater than 55, which skewed the mean. The majority of this study’s participants had between 5 and 9 years of teaching experience which corresponds to the highest respondent percentages being between 25 and 30 yrs old.

14.3% of this study’s respondents claim they never intend to seek an assistant principal position or claim they do not know how long they would wait.

Discussion of Open-Ended

Results The largest theme of responses as to

why educational leadership students

plan to wait after graduation to seek an

assistant principal position is that they

are waiting to get more experience in

their current or next position.

Results indicated 18.8% plan to seek

something other than an assistant

principal position.

Exploratory Analysis:

Trends & Patterns Results from this analyses found a distinct

trend in the data. The findings suggest those likely to intend to seek an assistant principal position have higher self-assessed leadership behavior potential and/or qualities.

It further suggests that students with low self-assessed leadership behavior quality construct scores may be self-selecting themselves out. That is, participants with low scores may want to be in a leadership position, but temper their intent due to a lack of self-efficacy about their self-assessed leadership.

Further Study Needed

To discover what changes graduates’ intentions and the reasons so many graduates complete the program and obtain certification without the intent of using their degree to move upward

To compare those who claimed they intended to wait and the actual wait times before hired

To examine how many do accept positions after completion and certification using DOE records.

To discover more about how much these economic factors play a role in affecting intentions.

To uncover which gender specific factors may affect intentions to seek after program completion

Given the fact that many (14.3%)

respondents were pursuing the educational

leadership degree without a goal of seeking

an administrative position, university

programs might develop two tracks within

the K-12 educational leadership masters

degree: one for those seeking Educational

Leadership certification and another for the

others who simply want more knowledge

about leadership and administrative

practices to enhance their teacher leadership

skills.

Recommendations for Practice