Principals’ Mindset: Growth or Fixed? by Melissa K. Mlakar Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Educational Leadership Program YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY May, 2019 Principals’ Mindset: Growth or Fixed? Melissa K. Mlakar I hereby release this dissertation to the public. I understand that this dissertation will be made available from the OhioLINK ETD Center and the Maag Library Circulation Desk for public access. I also authorize the University or other individuals to make copies of this dissertation as needed for scholarly research. Signature: 0HOLVVD.0ODNDU, Student Date Approvals: Dr. Jane Beese, Thesis Advisor Date Dr. Charles Vergon, Committee Member Date Dr. Xin Liang, Committee Member Date Dr. Victoria Kress, Committee Member Date Dr. Salvatore A. Sanders, Dean of Graduate Studies Date ABSTRACT The constructs of mindset, leadership, and school climate interact within the school environment. Mindset drives decisions and behaviors, decisions and behaviors determine leadership style, and leadership style influences school climate. Finally, school climate impacts student achievement and success. Much of the research related to mindset, however, has been focused on students. The purpose of this study was to expand the research regarding mindset and school leadership. This quantitative, descriptive study surveyed building principals in 10 counties in northeast Ohio to determine their growth or fixed mindset. The Theories of Intelligence Scale (Others Form) was utilized to determine the principals’ mindset. In addition, demographic questions such as gender, level of education, experience, community type, building level, and building size were included in the survey. The study found that 72.2% of principals had a growth mindset, 14.2% had a fixed mindset, and 13.6% scored as unclassified. There were no notable differences between the demographic groups. The findings from this research provide the basis for understanding the mindset of building principals. These results have implications for principal preparation programs and administrator professional development. In addition, the results provide information that can be used to grow transformational leaders within the school environment. Keywords: School leadership, transformational leadership, mindset, growth mindset, fixed mindset ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This experience has been a long, but rewarding, journey. here have been twists and turns along the way, and I am extremely appreciative for those people that have been my support and cheerleaders through it all. First, thank you to my wonderful husband and three great kids. I never could have finished this daunting task without your love and support. Thank you to my kids for eating sandwiches for dinner and picking your clean laundry out of the basket for days. Thank you to my husband for driving kids around, cleaning up the house, and finally folding that laundry that sat for days in the basket. You all were very patient with me during my times of extreme stress and overload, and you never once let me believe I couldn’t do this. Thank you, also, to my mom and dad. You raised me to believe that I can do anything I set my mind to, and this task was no exception. Finally, I am so grateful that you all made the time to come and watch my defense. While I know the topic may not have been super exciting for all of you, your presence during my presentation was so important to me. I will never forget the love and support I felt that day. I love every one of you. I am also thankful for my ‘work family.’ To everyone in my office, Jim, Chuck, Cheryl, Marlo, Debbie, Lois, Cynthia, and Crystal, you all played a part in my dissertation completion. From picking up my slack when I was overwhelmed to bringing me treats when I was close to a breakdown, your intuition about what I needed was always spot on. I am very lucky to work in an environment that is so supportive and helpful. I know I can always count on all of you when the chips are down or the going gets tough. iii Finally, many thanks to my dissertation committee. Dr. Beese, my committee chair, was both encouraging and steadfast in her resolve to help me finish. After taking a year off, you helped me jump right back in and get on the right track to complete my research and finish my paper. I appreciate your late night responses and your early morning texts to help me stay on track. Your tireless devotion to the process and to my writing has served as an inspiration to me as an educator. Thank you to Dr. Liang for teaching me all I wanted to know, and more, about quantitative research. Your help and guidance with the statistical portion of my dissertation was absolutely invaluable. Thank you to Dr. Kress for your feedback and insight on my writing and research. You brought thoughtful criticisms of my work that helped me to refine my final product. Finally, thank you to Dr. Vergon. Your questions about, and assessment of, my work helped me to produce a final product that was clear and concise. Completing doctoral coursework and writing a dissertation is not something that happens in isolation. While it can be an isolating task, there was no way I could have completed all the necessary work without the village that surrounds me. Thank you once again to everyone who played a part in my accomplishment. I will be forever grateful that you are a part of my life. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1 Statement of Problem............................................................................................3 Theoretical Framework .........................................................................................4 Purpose and Significance of Study .......................................................................6 Research Questions ...............................................................................................9 Operational Definitions.........................................................................................9 Research Design .................................................................................................12 Assumptions........................................................................................................13 Limitations ..........................................................................................................15 Summary .............................................................................................................16 II LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................17 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................18 Implicit Self-theories and Mindset................................................................18 Literature Review ...............................................................................................24 Leadership Theory ........................................................................................25 Climate ..........................................................................................................29 Summary .......................................................................................................53 III METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................55 v Research Questions .............................................................................................56 Research Design .................................................................................................56 Participants..........................................................................................................60 Instrumentation ...................................................................................................61 Development of the Eight-Item Scale ...........................................................62 Reliability ......................................................................................................64 Validity .........................................................................................................65 Use of the Instrument in Current Research ...................................................67 Scoring ..........................................................................................................69 Data Collection Procedures ................................................................................70 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................72 Limitations ..........................................................................................................73 Assumptions........................................................................................................74 Summary .............................................................................................................76 IV RESULTS .................................................................................................................78 Response Summary.............................................................................................79