Teacher Absenteeism and Retention: The Predictive Relationship between Principal Leadership Style and Perceived Ethic of Care
George O. Cunningham, Ed.D; Linda D. Grooms, Ph.D.

Abstract
Finding and retaining highly qualified K-12 teachers is one of the most important tasks for a school principal. While the classroom teacher has been shown to be the key component in student academic success, the learning environment, particularly in urban schools, is often compromised by high teacher absenteeism and turnover, issues that cause one to question if principal leadership style and their perceived ethic of care make a difference. Utilizing the Caring School Leadership Questionnaire, data were gathered from 293 PreK-12 teachers in two urban school divisions located in the southeastern United States. Although statistical significance was not realized concerning the predictive value of caring school principals employing transformational, authentic, or servant leadership on teacher absenteeism, teacher retention could be predicted.

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