Instructional Leadership In High Schools: The Effects of Principals, Assistant Principals, and Department Heads on Student Achievement

The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of instructional leadership
on student achievement through the instructional leadership of principals, assistant
principals and math department heads at the high school level. The Principal
Instructional Management Rating Scale was used to quantify instructional leadership in
ten different job functions.
The research questions were as follows:
1. Can the instructional leadership of principals, assistant principals, and math
department heads be described at the high school level?
2. Whose instructional leadership has the greatest relationship to student
achievement, principals, assistant principals, or math department heads?
3. Does team alignment in instructional leadership matter to student
achievement? 4. Does socioeconomic status moderate the relationship between the job function
and student achievement?
Instructional leadership questionnaires were distributed to the principal, the
assistant principal in charge of curriculum, and the math department head in all public
high schools in five of the seven largest counties in Florida. The unit of study was the
instructional leadership role linkage between the principal, the assistant principal, and the
department head as it related to student achievement.
The study found that (a) principals exhibit instructional leadership behaviors at a
higher frequency than assistant principals and math department heads, (b) instructional
leadership team alignment does not correlate to math achievement, and (c) principals'
and assistant principals' behaviors correlate to math achievement, but math department
heads do not. The study also found that student achievement is moderated by
socioeconomic status.
These findings suggest that the administrative setup in schools should be
examined. The alignment of instructional leadership behaviors did not significantly
correlate with student achievement; however, the correlation was positive in eight of the
ten job functions. Differentiation of roles may be the key to understanding why
alignment and achievement are positively correlated.
Mixed method studies may also need to be used in future research, as this study
contradicted other studies in the area of the department head's influence. Finally, the role
of the department head should be studied in depth. This role may be the critical, yet
indirect link to student achievement.