THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER ABSENTEEISM AND PRINCIPALS' LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHIES

This study was conducted to determine whether a relationship exists between teacher absenteeism and principals' leadership philosophies. Additionally, differences between absenteeism of special and general education teachers was examined.;Hypothesis 1, that there is a difference between teacher absenteeism and principals' leadership philosophies was not supported when MPS scores of authoritarian (Theory X) principals and democratic (Theory Y) principals were used. However, the hypothesis was supported: (1) when MPS scores of authoritarian and democratic principals were combined (Theory X and Theory Y) to form one group of principals with clearly defined leadership philosophies and MPS scores of principals with no clearly defined leadership philosophy (Theory O) were used to form a second group, and (2) when presence and absence were scored with the criterion one-half standard deviation from the mean. Teachers working under principals holding no clearly defined leadership philosophies had 7.22 mean days absent, while teachers working under principals holding clearly defined leadership philosophies had 6.06 mean days absent, i.e. teachers are more often absent when principals do not hold clearly defined leadership philosophies.;Hypothesis 2, that there is a difference between special and general education teachers' absenteeism was not supported.;Hypothesis 3, that there is a difference in the effect of principals' leadership philosophies on the absenteeism of special and general education teachers also was not supported.;The Managerial Philosophies Scale (MPS) was administered to all 72 principals in a metropolitan school system. Absentee data were collected for 347 special education teachers and 1925 general education teachers, all teachers except those missing more than 20 days. A two by two analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data. Five separate analyses were conducted to determine whether relationship might occur between teacher absenteeism and principals; leadership philosophies when principals' scores were regrouped using several scoring systems.;Given the seriousness of the question of teacher absenteeism, it would appear that further research would contribute needed data to those responsible for program planning and implementation. Also, staff development efforts might strengthen principals' leadership practices by focusing on means to convey leadership philosophies clearly.