Motivating Leadership Change and Improvement: How Principal Evaluation Addresses Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sources of Motivation

Purpose: This mixed-methods study examined the association between the degree to which principal evaluation systems include intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation and principals’ perceptions of whether their district's evaluation system promotes leadership change and improvement. We also investigated how principals experience intrinsic sources of motivation in the context of principal evaluation. Research Methods/Approach: For our quantitative analysis, we administered surveys to 82 elementary and middle school principals in 21 districts in Connecticut, Michigan, and Tennessee. We used multiple regression analysis to identify factors associated with principals’ perceptions of their district evaluation systems. For our qualitative analysis, we selected six principals from the 82 survey participants. We used the constant comparative method and a consensus approach to coding the interview data; this enabled us to identify linkages between key codes and broader themes. Findings: Our quantitative analyses indicated that principals’ perceptions of whether their evaluation system promoted leadership improvement were strongly associated with the degree to which they reported that their evaluation system included intrinsic sources of motivation. Our qualitative analysis revealed clear differences among principals with regard to their interactions with district administrators, the nature of their principal professional development activities, and their experiences with autonomy, feedback, and district expectations. Implications: Principal evaluation and professional development are under-researched topics. This study identified mechanisms through which principals seem to find evaluation intrinsically motivating. This is one of the first studies to empirically test Firestone's argument that evaluation systems that support intrinsic motivation are more effective than those that emphasize extrinsic motivation.