Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

First Advisor

Rebecca Callahan

Abstract

School principalship matters. With 10% of K-12 public school principals resigning in 2020-2021, we require a nuanced understanding of principalship's systemic and individual dynamics. Teachers' perceptions of their principal may inform how they evaluate efficacy. While many education reform policies emphasize principals' roles, my quantitative study examines factors shaping teachers’ perceptions of principal efficacy. Using QuantCrit and intersectionality frameworks, I apply multilevel linear models (MLM) with the 2020-2021 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) to investigate how principals' identity and the frequency with which they enact instructional leadership relate to teachers' perceptions of their efficacy. My findings reveal that principals’ frequency of instructional leadership did not significantly influence teachers' perceptions of their principal's efficacy. However, principal race significantly influenced teachers' perceptions of their efficacy even after controlling for school-level, principal-level and teacher-level characteristics. Ultimately, teachers serving under principals of Color, mainly Black, Asian, and American Indian principals, reported lower perceptions of their principals’ efficacy. Further, teachers in schools with higher shares of students in poverty, students with disabilities and students of the racial/ethnic minority, as well as teachers in middle and high schools, reported lower perceptions of principal efficacy. My study highlights evidence that a principal’s race and school context are associated with teachers' perceptions of their efficacy.

Language

en

Number of Pages

187 p.

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