Advisor(s) - Committee Chair Dr. Christopher Wagner (Chair), Dr.
Kyong Hee Chon, Dr. Tabitha Daniel, Dr. William Schlinker Doctor
of Education This study of 2,802 teachers and 129 school
administrators sought to determine the gender, leadership
traits, and leadership behaviors most preferred by teachers in
Kentucky. Principals were also surveyed to establish which
traits they felt were most important for a school leader to
possess, and to determine the frequency at which they practiced
various leadership behaviors. Participants were from 194 public
elementary, middle, and high schools in thirty-two Kentucky
school districts. Leadership traits were based on Marzano,
Waters, and McNulty’s (2005) twenty-one responsibilities of
school leaders. Teachers and principals were asked to indicate
the level of importance for school administrators to practice
each of the twenty-one traits. The leadership behaviors portion
of the surveys included eight transactional and eight
transformational behaviors, which were not iden