THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONAL AND EXPERIENCE VARIABLES OF DADE COUNTY SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AND SUBORDINATES' PERCEPTIONS OF LEADER BEHAVIOR

The Principal Questionnaire was used to ascertain personal data from the Dade County secondary school principals. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII (LBDQ--XII) was used to measure selected department heads' perceptions of their principals' leader behavior. Sixty secondary school principals and 341 department heads participated in the study. The one-way analysis of variance, Scheffe's multiple comparison test and a stepwise multiple regression program were employed in the statistical analysis of data. The .05 level of confidence was used to accept or reject the null hypotheses.;As a result of the data analyzed in this study, the following conclusions were made:;1. (a) Subscale 3: Tolerance of Uncertainty - Principals whose undergraduate major was physical education received significantly higher mean scores than did principals whose undergraduate majors were science, business education, mathematics and language arts. (b) Subscale 4: Persuasiveness - Principals whose undergraduate major was physical education received significantly higher mean scores than did principals whose undergraduate majors were elementary education and language arts. Social studies majors received significantly higher mean scores than did elementary majors. (c) Total Score - Principals whose undergraduate majors were physical education and social studies received significantly higher mean scores than did principals whose undergraduate major was mathematics.;2. (a) Subscale 3: Tolerance of Uncertainty - Principals whose graduate major was physical education scored significantly higher mean scores than did principals whose graduate majors were curriculum and instruction and guidance. Educational administration majors scored significantly higher mean scores than did curriculum and instruction majors.;As a means of structuring the problem, the following hypotheses were tested: Hypothesis 1: There will be no significant difference among the undergraduate majors of the secondary school principals and the mean score on any subscale and the total score on the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII. Hypothesis 2: There will be no significant difference among the graduate majors of the secondary school principals and the mean score on any subscale and the total score on the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII. Hypothesis 3: There will be no significant relationship between the variables of highest degree earned, age, sex, race or ethnic origin, years of teaching experience, years of administrative experience, total years of teaching and administrative experience and the mean score on any subscale and the total score on the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire--Form XII.;3. (a) Subscale 1: Representation - Male principals received significantly higher mean scores on this subscale of the LBDQ--XII than did female administrators. (b) Subscale 2: Tolerance of Uncertainty - Principals who had more years of teaching experience scored significantly higher mean scores than did principals with less years of teaching experience. (c) Subscale 6: Tolerance of Freedom - White and hispanic principals received significantly higher mean scores on this subscale of the LBDQ--XII than did black principals. Principals with more years of teaching experience also scored significantly higher mean scores than did principals with less years of teaching experience. (d) Subscale 8: Consideration - Principals who were white and hispanic received significantly higher mean scores on this subscale of the LBDQ--XII than did black administrators. (e) Subscale 11: Integration - Principals who possessed specialist and doctorate degrees scored significantly higher mean scores on this subscale of the LBDQ--XII than did principals with masters' degrees.