A NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LEADERSHIP AMONG THE PRIVATE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN THEPHA DISTRICT, SONGKHLA PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) examine the current state, desired state, and needs for developing private school administrators in Thepha district according to the concept of purpose-driven leadership, comparing the perceptions of teachers and administrators, and 2) prioritize the needs for developing such leadership. The population comprised 34 administrators and 363 teachers. All administrators served as informants, while the number of teacher informants was determined using Yamane's formula, yielding a minimum of 190 informants, who were then allocated across the affiliated schools through stratified random sampling in proportion to the number of teachers in each school relative to the total. The response rate was 82.4% for administrators (28) and 90.5% for teachers (172). The instruments were two parallel-form questionnaires with a Scale-level Content Validity Index (S-CVI) of 1.00 and a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.96. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, the Modified Priority Needs Index (PNI modified), and Welch's t-test. The results revealed that the current state of purpose-driven leadership, as rated by teachers, was at a moderate level (M = 3.19), whereas administrators rated their own current state at a high level (M = 3.94). The desired state was at a high level for both groups (M = 3.93 and 4.12, respectively). From the teachers' perspective, the component with the highest need was purpose-centered communication (PNI = 0.244), followed by translating purpose into action (0.240), collective purpose mobilization (0.231), and meaningful connection to purpose (0.221). Welch's t-test showed that the perceptions of administrators and teachers differed significantly across all components (p < .001), with a large effect size (Cohen's d = -0.955 to -1.117).