The Relationship between Ethical Leadership and Student Success in Community Colleges

The overall purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether ethical leadership is the ideal leadership style among community college presidents for improving student success. Graduation rates and the percentage of students achieving the statewide goal of completion were used as measures of student success. The unit of analysis was the college, and the units of observation were the president, direct reports, graduation rates, and students' achievement of the statewide completion goal. The variables explored in this research were graduation rates, the percentage of students who achieved the statewide goal of completion, and ethical leadership practices. Ethical leadership practices were measured using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) Likert-style scale developed by Kouzes and Posner. College presidents completed the LPI-Self questionnaire, and administrators completed the LPI-Observer questionnaire. The findings revealed no significant relationships between ethical leadership practices exhibited by community college presidents and the variables of graduation rate and students achieving the statewide goal of completion. Although no significant relationships were found between ethical leadership practices and student academic success, the findings of this study indicate that ethical leadership practices indirectly impact student success. This research may be used to study the impact of ethical leadership practices on students' academic achievement based on other factors not included in this research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]