MacNeil, Angus J.2015-08-242015-08-24May 20132013-05http://hdl.handle.net/10657/1023School principals are required to do more now than ever. High stakes accountability has principals grappling for ways to achieve state and federal standards. Principals must also ensure their stakeholders’ needs are met on a daily basis. It is simply not possible for school principals to do it all themselves. Principals must build and support teacher leaders. Effective principals find ways to build positive relationships with their teachers and empower them to work towards shared campus goals. The purpose of the study was to examine why the relationship between teachers and the principal is important for the school and to identify the most critical feature for a successful working relationship between teachers and principals. Survey data from 310 practicing principals was analyzed for this study. This study examined the responses of principals who responded to the question “Why is the relationship between the teacher and the principal important for the school?” 56% of the principals reported the importance of participation in shared decision making; while 52% reported the importance of creating an atmosphere of mutual trust. 57% of the principals reported that “trust” is the most critical feature for a successful relationship between the teacher and the principal.application/pdfengThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).Teacher leadershipBuilding trustTeacher empowermentProfessional leadership2015-08-24Thesisborn digital