How Elementary and Middle School Teachers’ Perceptions of Supportive Principals’ Behavior Impact the Overall T-Tess Evaluation Process

Abstract

The purpose of this explanatory sequential design was to (a) investigate teachers’ perceptions of supportive principal behaviors, (b) investigate teachers’ perceptions of the overall T-TESS evaluation process, and (c) find the correlation between the two perceptions. A convenience sample of 105 elementary and middle school teachers who work in a Title I urban district responded to a 47 question survey created by using portions of the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ-RE) and the Teacher Evaluation Profile (TEP), and individual interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data. The survey data analysis was used to determine teachers’ perceptions of supportive principal behaviors as well as teachers’ perceptions of the overall evaluation process. For the quantitative data, a Pearson’s correlation was run to determine if there was a significance in the relationship between the two variables while coding and concurrent triangulation was used to conclude the qualitative data. The quantitative results found that there was a significant relationship between teachers’ perceptions of supportive principal behaviors and teachers’ perceptions of the overall T-TESS evaluation process. The qualitative findings found there are six themes that revealed teachers’ perceptions of supportive principal behaviors and how those behaviors affected their overall T-TESS evaluation process. The themes discovered were (a) trustworthiness, (b) building positive relationships, (c) active listening, (d) timely responses, (e) opportunities for growth, and (f) feedback. The qualitative data further strengthened the quantitative analysis and further suggested a significant relationship between teachers’ perceptions of supportive principal behaviors and teachers’ perceptions of the overall T-TESS evaluation process.