School-aged children’s health needs have changed over the last several decades to the present day population of many overweight and obese children with health complications (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 2015). Tennessee has implemented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) model for Coordinated School Health (CSH) in all public schools. Leading each school district’s program is a CSH Coordinator. The role of CSH Coordinators is to provide leadership to district and school administrators while effectively and efficiently implementing the CSH program (Wechsler, 2012).
The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the self-perceived leadership styles and practices of Tennessee CSH Coordinators. The focus of many public health initiatives in America is childhood health. Research conducted by the CDC has shown that school health interventions have been effective in improving physical activity, comprehensive health education, and nutrition. Good health is essential for academic success (McKenzie & Richmond, 1998). CSH Coordinators are the leaders of health for school systems (Wechsler, 2012). How these individuals implement the CDC model for CSH varies based on leadership style and practices.
Many studies exist on the topic of CSH but few consider the people leading the program (Strickland, 2012). By obtaining information regarding the leadership style of current CSH Coordinators, this research provides insight into best practices and continuing education for current and future leaders.
The study population consisted of all 137 Tennessee CSH Coordinators. Seventy (51.1%) CSH Coordinators participated in the demographic, best practices, and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Appendix A). Findings indicated that all of the CSH Coordinators self-reported leadership style was transformational. There were no significant differences reported between the degree to which CSH Coordinator identified as transformational leaders compared by years of experience, gender, school district size, education level, and number of best practices implemented.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-4562 |
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
| Creators | Ledbetter, Heather R |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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