The Correlation Between the Degree to Which Teachers Perceive Their Administrators as Exhibiting Collaborative Leadership Style Traits and Teacher Leader Job Satisfaction Levels

The purpose of this quantitative, predictive correlational study was to determine the predictive relationship between administrators’ use of collaborative leadership factors as perceived by teacher leaders and teacher leaders’ job satisfaction levels. The study was framed by collaborative leadership theory and job satisfaction theory and adds to the empirical evidence by examining the connection between administrators’ use of collaborative leadership and teacher leader needs. The research question explored how accurately teacher leader job satisfaction levels can be predicted from perceived administrator use of collaborative leadership traits. The study consisted of 112 pre-kindergarten through 12th grade teacher leaders in rural, suburban, and urban districts in southern Michigan during the fall of 2024. Two instruments were used: the School Culture Survey, which measured the predictor variables, and the Job Satisfaction Survey, which measured the criterion variable. Demographic information and data were collected anonymously using Qualtrics’ online platform. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The findings revealed a significant predictive relationship between a linear combination of the predictor variables, which were collaborative leadership, professional development, unity of purpose, collegial support, and learning partnership, and the criterion variable, job satisfaction. The individual predictor, collaborative leadership, was significantly correlated to the criterion variable. The results emphasize the importance of collaborative leadership traits on teacher leader job satisfaction levels. These findings can benefit administrators and educators by informing them of traits that could improve teacher leader job satisfaction levels. Further studies are recommended to collect district-identifying information to better meet teachers’ needs.