Transformational leadership and its correlation to the effective placement of completers of area career centers in the State of Missouri

The purpose of this research was to determine if there was a correlation between the leadership style of the director of area career centers in the state of Missouri and the placement of career education completers. The survey instrument was the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire version 5X, short form that consisted of 45 selected response questions and three open-ended questions that placed the responses on a five point Likert scale that determined the director’s major leadership style. The administration of the survey was online utilizing a leader webpage, developed by Mind Garden Inc. and career center directors, their supervisors, and their staff completed the survey to a 360-degree view of leadership style of the director. The 57 area career centers within one Midwest state were placed on a continuum from high to low based on student placement. The top and bottom 10 schools were selected for the purposeful sample. The research did not discover any correlation between leadership style and the placement of career center graduates. The researcher did discover that the predominant leadership style of the director was transformational which both the supervisor and the staff of the leader validated. The researcher called for further studies into the leadership style of the director utilizing the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (5X) and other Perkins student performance indicators. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Background Career education, which has evolved from vocational education, is a vital and often misunderstood part of the secondary education system within American public schools. The conceptualization of vocational education has its roots in colonial times with artisans passing down their trade to later generations. These efforts to develop a skilled workforce were finally formalized in 1917 with the passage of the Smith-Huges Act that established federal funds for vocational programs in secondary schools (Wenrich & Wenrich, 1974). However, since the 1980’s this earlier mission has changed from the development of successful workplace skills upon graduation to include a firm foundation in math, science, language arts, and leadership. This new mission will allow students to transition easily in to a postsecondary institution or to be successful in the modern workplace (Association for Career and Technical Education, 2006a; Techniques: Making Education & Career Connections, 1997; U.S. Department of Education, 2004). In fact, career education is a part of the curriculum for over 16,000 schools in the nation with its own unique federal funding sources. Career education includes approximately 1,000 area career centers across the United States dedicated to instructing secondary and post-secondary students in career education (Association for Career and Technical Education, 2006b). These career centers are staffed with many teachers who are alternatively certified with Missouri requiring at least 4,000 hours of related work experience within the last 10 years (Educator Certification, 2006). These alternatively certified teachers bring a wealth of practical knowledge into the career centers.