Increased Accuracy in Measuring Leadership Impacts

This study sought to determine the change in level of leadership skills of participants in a community leadership program and the degree of response shift (change in level of understanding of leadership skills) in the self-report measures employed. While most of the participants reported increases in their leadership skills at the end of the program, differences were found between their self-report ratings using the pretest/posttest approach and the then/posttest approach. The degree of response shift (pre/then comparison) was also evident. The findings from this study together with other studies cited suggest that when employing self-report measures, the then/post approach provides a less conservative and more accurate means of assessing leadership skill development than would the traditional pretest/posttest approach. Suggestions for reducing the effects of response shift are also offered.