| As instructional leaders in their schools, principals are tasked with finding ways to increase student achievement. Research has shown that of all the variables that influence student achievement, the teacher is the greatest factor of which we can control. But how do principals increase their teachers’ desire to engage in the professional development that would improve their effectiveness? Empirical evidence has shown that employees who perceive higher levels of organizational justice demonstrate higher engagement at work. Dr. Carol Dweck’s framework of mindsets also offers a theoretical construct that explains varying levels of employee engagement.In order to better understand how a school principal can motivate staff to more fully engage in professional development, this study considered the relationship between a principal growth mindset and the variables of the teachers’ perceptions of interpersonal justice and informational justice flowing from their principal, as well as the teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s mindset.This study surveyed 62 K-12 public school principals and their faculty throughout thestate of Idaho. Principals were surveyed about their own mindsets. Faculty were surveyed abouttheir perceptions of interpersonal and informational justice flowing from the principal, as well astheir perceptions of their principal’s mindset. Data collected through these surveys were analyzed by computing the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (Pearson r) to determine if a correlation existed between a principal’s self-assessed mindset and a teachers perception of the principal’s mindset. Linear mixed model analyses were employed to explore
xithe relationship between a teacher’s perception of the principal’s mindset and the teachers perceptions of interpersonal and informational justice.This study found a small to medium, statistically significant correlation between the principal’s mindset and the teacher’s perceptions of the principal’s mindset. Analyses also revealed a positive correlation between a teacher’s perception of the principal’s mindset and the teacher’s perceptions of interpersonal and informational justice |