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Description
To shift from traditionally separate systems of instructional service delivery to inclusive schools centered on meeting the needs of students with disabilities within general education, it is crucial that educational leaders understand the complexities of serving these students and provide quality leadership that results in positive outcomes for all students. Administrators with high confidence in areas critical to special education leadership are better equipped to navigate the challenges of ensuring high quality education opportunities and outcomes for students with disabilities. In this study, 115 school site administrators, assistant principals, and principals, were asked to rate their confidence in areas critical to special education leadership and their level of perceived self-efficacy related to application of special education leadership skills. They were also asked to identify their preferences related to professional development. Results were analyzed to determine the relationship between demographics, confidence, and self-efficacy. There was a significant positive correlation between administrator confidence and self-efficacy suggesting that increases in confidence will align with increases in self-efficacy. Administrators also rated brainstorming with colleagues as their most preferred method of professional development. Considering the power of self-efficacy to influence leadership behaviors, this research shows that by increasing confidence, self-efficacy increases. This research contributes to the field of instructional leadership by identifying possible intervention and training targets to improve administrator self-efficacy in inclusive school leadership.
