Instructional Leadership and Its Effect On Students Academic Performance

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ISSN: 2315-7844
Research Article Open Access
Instructional Leadership and Its Effect on Students’ Academic

Performance
Gillian Heaven1 and Paul Andrew Bourne2*
University of the West Indies, West Indies
1
Department of Graduate Education and Leadership, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica
2
Abstract
Introduction: Leadership in schools has been a major cause for concern, not only in our Jamaican society, but on a global
level. Leaders are metaphorically viewed as anchors, as they are totally responsible for the success of their organization.
Objectives: The aim of the current research is to: evaluate the role of instructional leadership on academic performance
of students; Assess how instructional leadership influence on teachers’ instructions; evaluate instructional leadership and
typology of school, and explore instructional leadership in secondary educational institutions in St. Andrew, Jamaica.
Methods: This research employed mixed methodology. Survey research and phenomenological research methodologies
were employed to investigate the topic. The sample comprised of one hundred teachers and administrators at two secondary
educational institutions in Kingston and St. Andrew. For the quantitative data, these were recorded, retrieved, and analysed
using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences for Windows (Version 21.0). The qualitative data were analyzed using
thematic identifications and narrations. A p value of 5% was used to establish statistical associations.
Findings: The majority of the respondents were females (69%), non-senior teachers (68%), and have been teaching
for 4-10 years (43%). A positively weak statistical correlation existed between the performance of students and instructional
leadership, with only 1.4% of the variance in academic performance students can be accounted for by instructional
leaderships.
Conclusion: The discourse of instructional leadership accounting for high academic achievement of students does
not exist in this study, and this provides a platform for further examination of the issue from the perspective of instructional
leadership and other variables.
Keywords: Instructional leadership; School management; performance in schools; but that it is a weak one suggesting that there
Performance management are other factors that account for the high academic performance of
students in schools which is sometimes attributed to instructional
Introduction and Background to Study leadership. In addition, the literature review will focus on leadership as
Every leader has a crucial role to play in the growth and development a whole, but will be inextricably linked to instructional leadership and
of his or her organization. Leadership in schools has been a major its impact on academic achievements, with the current work examining
cause for concern, not only in our Jamaican society, but on a global this from the perspective of two selected secondary schools in Kingston
level. Leaders are metaphorically viewed as anchors, as they are totally and St. Andrew, Jamaica.
responsible for the success of their organization. One needs to realize For too long teachers have voiced their grouses and have
that the school comprises of various entities of leadership, but the enveloped feelings of dissatisfaction, based on the type of leadership
principal plays a dominant role, one that is inextricably linked to the that is demonstrated by the principals, for the most part in secondary
growth and development of the school. Bongo and Manyena [1] viewed institutions. Consequently, the National Education Inspectorate
leadership as the process of social influence, one in which one person (N.E.I.) has been given the mandate to inspect secondary schools based
is able to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of on several criteria, one of them being leadership, and it impacts on
a common task. Leithwood and Riehl [2] posited the idea that school the growth and development of the institution. Hence, the inspectors
leadership has significant effects on students’ learning, and the effects visited several secondary schools, used three consecutive days to
of the quality of the curriculum and teachers’ instruction. They further analyse the school setting and at the end of this procedure, rate the
reiterated the idea that leaders influence students’ learning by helping to leadership based on certain criteria. These range from exceptional,
promote a vision and goal and by ensuring that resources and processes
are in place to enable teachers to perform at their optimal levels.
It is a common belief that leaders have a major impact on school *Corresponding author: Paul Andrew Bourne, Department of Graduate Education
quality and students’ achievement, hence developing effective leaders is and Leadership, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica, Tel: +1 876-
618-165; E-mail: paulbourne1@gmail.com
expected should be considered as a major priority of all policy makers.
Too often when a school is deemed as failing the underlining effect is Received October 13, 2016; Accepted December 09, 2016; Published December
12, 2016
that of poor leadership, one that is, for the most part does not focus on
the importance of developing instructional delivery modes in his or Citation: Heaven G, Bourne PA (2016) Instructional Leadership and Its Effect
on Students’ Academic Performance. Review Pub Administration Manag 4: 197.
her educational institution [3]. This may be inextricably linked to the
doi:10.4172/2315-7844.1000197
perception of Okumbe and Maicibi [4,5], who concluded that without
appropriate instructional leadership effective academic performance Copyright: © 2016 Heaven G, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
cannot be realized in schools. This research will demonstrate that there use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
is statistical correlation between instructional leadership and academic source are credited.
Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

ISSN: 2315-7844 Volume 4 • Issue 3 • 1000197
Citation: Heaven G, Bourne PA (2016) Instructional Leadership and Its Effect on Students’ Academic Performance. Review Pub Administration
Manag 4: 197. doi:10.4172/2315-7844.1000197
Page 2 of 20
good, satisfactory and poor. The researcher has a number of doubts outcomes by focusing on the teacher and the quality of instruction
based on this three days analysis. Could a conclusive report be done in offered [8].
just three days and are the findings really valid? Based on these reports
Moral Leadership focuses on value judgements or the ethical
they conducted interviews with both staff and students, perused the
boundaries of leadership, while participative leadership gives members
notebooks of students, tour the various campuses with the assistance
equity in the decision making process [8]. In addition, Vehbi Celik [9]
of the principal and finally visited several classes from various subject
viewed leadership as one of the most stressed leadership approaches
areas. The NEI Report [6] rated Wolmers’ Girls as being exceptional
like visionary leadership, strategic leadership and instructional
in their performance, Meadowbrook High and Jamaica College as
leadership. He asserted that it is the process of forming and developing
good. Just to cite a few examples. One now needs to consider if the
values and principles which lead followers to act according to moral
ratings were inextricably linked to the type of instructional leadership
principles. It is also his belief that school leaders who cannot perform
exhibited in these various institutions. Based on the above it is the
morally focussed leadership behaviours may lead a school into a
researchers’ view that their findings may have some level of accuracy,
process of moral pollution Reisck et al. [10] views moral leadership as
but three days in a school environment would not be deemed sufficient
synonymous to ethical leadership which they believe constitute certain
to adequately rate the type of leadership. With this borne in mind
characteristics such as unity, awareness, motivating and encouraging,
one has been motivated to explore the concept of instructional
transferring authority and administering moral accountability.
leadership and how it impacts or influences academic performances
of students in schools. The objectives of this study are 1) Identify the Contingency leadership, however, provides the true test for the
impact instructional leadership has on the academic performance at leader, as his ability to respond to organizational problems and address
two specific high schools; 2) Investigate the impact of instructional them effectively is totally analysed [8]. Transformational Leadership
leadership on the teachers’ instructional role; and 3) Determine deals with leader’s achievement of large scale changes, therefore,
whether there is a correlation between instructional leadership and the allowing others to learn how to embrace change in a successful
quality scores attained in internal and external examinations. manner. These leaders create a sense of vision and purpose through
Review of Related Literature inspiration and execute changes, once they have the commitment of all
its members. On the other hand, Managerial leadership focuses on the
The concept of principals embracing their roles as instructional functions tasks and behavioural patterns of the leader [8]
leaders is of paramount importance in a new era of school management
if they wish to improve the performance levels of the students in On examination of Lunenburg and Ornstein’s leadership theories,
their charge. Although public schools operate under the mandate of one realized that none of these theories can be tailored to suit any single
organization. In the case of a school, the principal has to continually
the Education Act [7], the principal is held accountable for the total
analyse his/her leadership style, for the most part and employ a
success (or failure) of the school he or she manages. The success (or
multiplicity of organizational styles so that the school may experience
failure) of any school is intertwined with the type of leadership which
academic success. A school is a unit of teachers, administrators,
governs the institution, which holds true for fortune five companies.
ancillary staffers, and students that must be coalesce with a single
The failure of a school is never levied against teacher(s) and this has
focus of educating the pupils (or students). For many school educating
always been in the case in school administration. This is equally true
is adjudged based on academic performance, particularly external
when there is success in an educational institution, suggesting that the
examinations for those at the primary to tertiary level in Western
principal has an overarching role of the institution. Hence, if a school is
hemisphere. Clearly, while a school may require a principal to employ
excelling academically, it may be inferred that the leader has embraced
different combinations of the leadership theories, there is no denial that
aspects of instructional leadership and is in control of the management
instructional leadership must be the focus of the top administrators.
of that institution. The literature review provides pertinent details on
instructional leadership and its influence on academic performance. In addition, Cotton [11] cited the idea that effective instructional
leadership involved principals who were intensely involved in curricular
School management via instructional leadership
and instructional issues that directly impacts on students’ achievement.
Lunenburg and Ornstein [8] posited that leadership has six major With instructional improvement at the top of a principal’s priority list,
categories. These are: there is the autonomy to ensure that the major issues or concerns are
addressed in the educational setting. Short and Spencer [12] opined
• Instructional leadership
that instructional leadership included various elements which were
• Moral leadership extremely important if principals hoped to accomplish academic
success. The principal should be able to prioritize according to the
• Participative leadership
needs of the institution. Prioritization may be deemed as a simplistic
• Contingency leadership notion, but it is indeed a mammoth task for principals to know what
tasks to prioritize, as the scope of their job appears to be unlimited
• Transformational leadership
or infinite. This simple, but profound terminology “prioritization”
• Managerial leadership suggests that teaching and learning must be the consistent focus of
the school administrator as he or she performs the myriads of roles
In the broad categorization of leadership, Lunenburg and Ornstein
embedded in principal ship. One recognizes that all principals have to
included instructional leadership which indicated that management,
demonstrate the ability to strike the balance between management and
particularly of an educational institution must be an instructionally
vision and other duties, in an effort to make classroom instruction and
based. It can also be deduced from Lunenburg and Ornstein that
practice their main focus.
leadership is not singularly about managerial leadership or moral
leadership as leadership extends to instructional management. Persell and Cookson [13] reviewed more than seventy five
Instructional Leadership analyses the significant practice in students’ research studies based on leadership and had some interesting findings

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highlighted in their work. They reported that there are certain recurrent Principals play key roles in instructional change in their schools.
behaviours which are inextricably linked to principals who display Their level of involvement often dictates whether attempts to change
strong leadership which is needed if a school is expected to experience instruction succeed [18]. In addition, school leaders, especially within
academic success. These are as follows: low-performing schools, are typically ineffective in providing support
and mentoring to improve instruction, and providing direction and
• Demonstrating a commitment to the establishment of resources for teacher learning and professional development within
academic goals and outside the school [18]. This pattern continued despite a great
• Creating a climate of high expectation deal of research that identifies the importance of the principal’s role
as instructional leader [19-23]. Jones [20] aptly summarized the
• Establishing order and discipline ‘Instructional Leadership, when he wrote that:
• Consulting effectively with others Understanding the Quadrant D leadership framework gives
• Effective use of time schools leaders a mental model for attacking the adaptive challenges of
instructional leadership. Instructional leadership involves developing
• Marshaling resources and a common vision of good instruction; building relationships; and
empowering staff to innovate in instruction, give one another feedback,
• Evaluating results.
and share best practices [20].
All these characteristics are interwoven in the roles that an
Jones’ theory provided a good summative perspective on
instructional leader has to perform if he or she wishes to boost students’
framework for Instructional Leaderships, roles and responsibilities
academic success. Taken collectively, these characteristics suggest that
and duties of the leader (principals or senior administrator of an
the principal exhibits strong leadership, one that is dynamic, exhibits
educational institution). It can be deduced from Jones’ work, that
high energy and assertiveness and displays openness to innovative
instructional supervision is simply more than dictating assignments
concepts. Persell and Cookson’s work highlighted the diverge role of a and merely providing documentary issues for regulators to actually
leader and that an instructional leader cannot singly focus on any one supervising the teaching-learning process. He went further to detailed
element in order to attain high standards of staffers and pupils in his/ framework of instructional leadership (or supervision) by list a 25-item
her charge. It can be extrapolated therefrom that a leader who is unable practice of leaders. These were: 1) Academic intervention; 2) Balanced
to coalesce all the elements outlined by Persel and Cookson would be assessments; 3) Celebrations; 4) Classroom walk-throughs; 5) Co-
an ineffective leader. teaching/team teaching; 6) Grading; 7) Individualized professional
Sashkin and Sashkin [14] described effective leadership as one learning; 8) Instructional coaching; 9) Instructional technology; 10)
that is more of mutating followers to achieve goals, which would be Leadership teams; 11) Mentoring; 12) Needs assessment/strategic
a combination of all the elements, forwarded Persell and Cookson. planning; 13) Peer review of student work; 14) Personnel and budgets;
Hence, good performance in a secondary school must not only consider 15) Policies and procedures; 16) Professional development workshops;
academic rigours, but should also focus on other domains of education 17) Professional learning community; 18) Rigor/relevance framework;
19) Master schedule/teacher assignment; 20) Staff meetings; 21) Staff
such as the affective and psychomotor domains. With the context of the
reviews and evaluations; 22) Student achievement data analysis; 23)
studies, one can conclude that if leadership is not instructionally based,
Teacher incentives and rewards; 24) Teacher observations/study tours,
then followers, in the case of teaching staff may not perform at their
and 25) Vision/mission/goals.
optimal levels [15,16].
Consequently, the National Association of Secondary School
There is wide recognition that school leaders exert a powerful,
Principals [24] insisted that the principal should provide leadership in
if indirect, influence on teaching quality and students’ learning.
the school community by building and maintaining a vision, direction,
In a review of literature for the American Educational Research and focus for student learning. But the association argued that the
Association, Leithwood and Riehl [15] forwarded that school principal should never act alone. Rather, according to NASSP, all schools
leadership has significant effects on student learning, second only to should establish a governing council that includes students, parents,
the effects of the quality of curriculum and teachers’ instruction. Case and staff members in key decisions to promote student learning and an
studies of exceptional schools indicate that school leaders influence atmosphere of participation, responsibility, and ownership. Although
learning primarily by galvanizing effort around ambitious goals and the principal (or chief administrator) of an educational institution is
by establishing conditions that support teachers and that help students required to meet administrative procedures and task, his/her duties are
succeed [16]. not limited solely to these activities or principal ship [22,25,26].
In large-scale quantitative studies of schools, Leithwood and Riehl Mr. Ruel Reid [27], Principal of Jamaica College, in an article
[15] concluded that the effects of leadership on student learning are published by The Jamaica Observer alluded to the idea that principals
small but educationally significant. Although leadership explains only are ineffective when there is a decrease in school performance. He also
about 3% to 5% of the variation in student learning across schools, this asserted that if the quality of leadership is not improved in schools
effect is nearly one-quarter of the total effect of all school factors. In these then we are travelling in a circulatory manner. In addition, Allen [27],
studies, as in case studies, the effects of leadership appear to be mostly Principal of Shortwood Teachers’ College in the same article overtly
indirect: leaders influence student learning by helping to promote a stated that problems faced in the schools are often compounded by poor
vision and goals, and by ensuring that resources and processes are in leadership. From these two sources one can ascertain that the concept
place to enable teachers to teach well [15]. Although leadership offers a of good or sound leadership is inextricably linked to the success of any
weak statistical correlation of students’ performance, the indirect effect educational institution. Lunenburg and Ornstein [8] postulated that
by way of the atmosphere, provision of material, motivation of people instructional leadership typically focuses “on the behaviours of teachers
and high expectation impacts on students’ learning [17]. as they engage in activities directly affecting the growth of students.”

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Hoy and Miskel [28] opined that “instructional leadership is California, and Michigan; He has concluded that school factors have
a particular form of leadership that emphasises the improvement predominantly contributed towards the creation of instructionally
of teaching and learning in the school’s technical core”. They go on effective schools. These factors are: strong administrative leadership,
further to state that “such leadership can come from a variety of sources high levels of expectations in students’ achievements, an orderly but not
including principals, teachers, parents, administrators and students”. oppressive school climate and a conducive atmosphere to instructional
Hanson [29], on the other hand, stated that “instead of being the processes.
person in direct control of the school or school district, the leader is
Cheng [38,39] summarised effective principals and successful
seen as the person in the middle who must somehow perform acts that
schools into four areas of principal leadership:
must satisfy a multitude of complex and other conflicting demands”.
• Goals and production emphasis
Instructional leaders are expected to continually monitor students’
progress towards school achievement and teachers’ effectiveness in • Power and decision making
accomplishing their set goals [30]. One medium a school administrator
• Organization/Coordination
can utilize is consistent appraisal of teachers. This includes frequent
classroom visitations, outlining distinct evaluation criteria and a • Human Relations.
consistent feedback procedure. York-Bar and Duke [31] reported
• Principal’s instructional leadership behaviours
that teachers have verbalized that evaluation processes have become
meaningless rituals. These teachers are of the view that the evaluation Ubben and Hughes [40] reinforced the idea that an effective
reports are redundant and often do not provide adequate suggestions principal must exercise a series of specific instructional leadership
for improvement. forces. These are: technical, human, educational, symbolic and cultural.
Technical forces included being a good manager and applying good
Donaldson [32] endorsed the view that the current evaluation
planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling techniques to
practices which exist in schools manifested various inadequacies,
ensure optimum effectiveness of the school. Human forces emphasized
such as the absence of high quality feedback to teachers by those
the human relation skills, implementing good motivational techniques,
conducting this process. Feedback from this process is quite beneficial
and building good morale within the organization. Educational forces
as it allows the teacher to reassess her strategies in an effort to garner focus on the conceptual knowledge of education. This skill entails
academic success. Hence, the principal who deems him/herself as an the ability to diagnose educational problems, carry out the functions
instructional leader will consistently seek to review the evaluation and of clinical supervision, evaluating educational programs, developing
supervision process in her school. An effective Principal, therefore, is curriculum, implementing staff development activities and establish
engaged in instructional leadership activities which promote students appropriate individualized educational programs for students. Symbolic
achievement [33]. Copeland II [34] developed a 6-item Likert Scale force demonstrates to others those things that the leader perceives to
question to measure the principals’ involvement in the educational be important and of value to the organization. Symbolic actions can
leadership that stimulates students’ achievement. He also developed also be expressed by principals modelling the behaviour they wish to
a 6-item Likert scale question which captures scores the instructional emphasize. The cultural leader functions as the “high priest” of the
leadership for a school’s principal. school. In his or her capacity the leader seeks to strengthen the values
In addition, Cotton has asserted that the following types of and beliefs that make the school unique. The leader attempts to build
behaviours by principals have a significant impact on students’ traditions around those things most highly valued. The cultural force
achievements: of leadership bonds students, parents and teachers as true believers of
the school. The cultural life of the school is “constructed” by someone,
• The establishment of a clear focus on student learning by hopefully the instructional leader who seeks to reflect an appropriate
having a clear vision, clear learning goals and high expectations set of values beliefs and traditions that provide the foundation for
for all students excellence.
• Providing instructional leadership by observing classroom More recently, the definition of instructional leadership has been
teaching and giving feedback, supporting teacher autonomy expanded to towards deeper involvement in the core business of
and protecting instructional time schooling which is teaching and learning. Attention has shifted from
teaching to learning, and some have proposed the term “learning
• Developing a school culture conducive to teaching and learning
leader” over “instructional leader” [41]. The National Association of
through shared leadership and decision making and risk taking
Elementary School Principals [42] defined instructional leadership
leading to continuous improvements.
as “leading learning communities”. In learning communities, staff
Gurr, et al. [35], reinforced the idea that extensive studies members meet on a regular basis to discuss their work, work together
demonstrate that particular leadership styles of school leaders, especially to problem solve, reflect on their jobs, and take responsibility for what
instructional leadership could have positive impacts on teaching and students learn. They operate in networks of shared and complementary
learning environments and processes leading to improvements in expertise rather than in hierarchies or in isolation. People in a learning
students’ performance and academic achievements. The Coleman community “own the problem” and become agents of its solution.
Report [36] demonstrated how the school has little or no effect on Instructional leaders also make adult learning a priority; set high
students’ achievements, concluding that family background was expectations for performance; create a culture of continuous learning
the key factor influencing the students’ achievements, but Edmonds for adults and get the community’s support for school success. Blase and
[37] refuted this point as he believed school leadership behaviour is Blase, [43] expressed instructional leadership in specific behaviours such
critical in determining the quality of education. Further, on the basis as making suggestions, giving feedback, modeling effective instruction,
of his research on instructionally effective schools in Detroit and a soliciting opinions, supporting collaboration, providing professional
review of previous studies involving effective schools in New York, development opportunities, and giving praise for effective teaching.

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Academic Performance: Culture and Milieu had a significant impact on the instructional climate of the school as
well as students’ achievements [48]. In the second study, there was
The academic performance of both teachers and students may an examination of the role of the principal in supporting teachers by
be inextricably linked to the culture and climate of an institution as creating collaborative work environments. Hence, Ing [48] revealed
well as, the type of leadership demonstrated in the school [25]. This that teachers lead by effective organizational managers are more likely
may have an immense impact on the attainment of quality academic to turn to principals and other teachers for resources and advice on
standards achieved by students both in their internal as well as, external how to improve their teaching practices. Consequently, principals who
examinations. Every organization has its distinct culture which its are poor organizational managers are more likely to have teachers who
members should embrace it they want to feel a sense of belonging and look outside the school for support [49]. It may be concluded here that,
commitment. Too often a new culture is created by those teachers who strong instructional leadership is essential but is not always inextricably
view themselves as a part of the “out group” in relation to the other linked to increased student performance.
members of staff who may see the importance of maintaining the
norms and values of the institution. The principal’s values and belief system plays a dominant role in
the performance of teachers and the school in general. According to
Culture distinguishes one organization from another and provides
Owens [50] in an effort to create an excellent school, two forms of
members with a sense of organizational identity [44]. Every school has
leadership must be evident. These are symbolic leadership and the
a specific climate and culture; hence the leader of the organization has
leadership that can build organizational culture. When a leader is
a vital role in the reinforcement of these areas if he wishes to boost
operating via the symbolic frame she signals and demonstrates her
the academic standards in his or her school. Organization climate is
vision for that organization. A symbolic leader pays keen attention to
viewed as those characteristics that distinguish the organization from
time management and tries to provide a unified vision for the school.
other organizations [45]. The school climate also characterizes the
This vision distinguishes leaders from those who are just viewed as
organization of the school building and also refers to the “feel” of a
managers. This type of administrator has the capacity to create and
school. In addition, Administrators need to embrace a school that
communicate a view of desired state of affairs that evokes commitment
has an open climate one that embraces cooperation and respect for
among his or her members. Principals, who engage in maintaining
teachers, one in which a principal listens and is open to suggestions,
strong organizational cultures, spend adequate time articulating the
gives commendations, gives teachers the liberty to be creative without
goals and objectives of the school as well as, participate in consistent
close and constant scrutiny. This type of climate will boost staff
performance and builds a high level of support for the school and its evaluations of the various norms and values which exist in their school.
culture [25]. Every leader basks when he or she is incharge of a school They also spent the necessary time to do self-appraisals to ensure that
that has a high level of performance. they are not allowing personal beliefs and judgements to override
certain issues in their school.
All schools at some point undergo a period of inspection, as the
national education inspectorate (N.E.I.) has been given the mandate In 2016, Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holnes reiterated
to inspect all primary and secondary schools in an effort to improve the fact that invariably any school that is performing well has
and identify areas of weaknesses in addition, the N.E.I. is also charged strong leadership [51]. The varied output and the wide disparity in
with the responsibility of making recommendations in an effort to performance are primarily due to the difference in leadership.
improve the academic outcomes for all learners. In addition, one of the Armstrong [52] defined effective leadership as the influence
various roles of an effective principal is the improvement of academic and legitimate authority acquired by a leader. This allows the leader
standards interwoven with their ability to allocate resources in ways to be able to effectively transform the organization, leading to the
that would maximize teacher effectiveness and students’ achievements. achievement of the desired purpose. He further reiterated the idea that
Another component of their role is to selectively and systemically apply this can be done through the articulation of the vision and mission of
other support mechanisms in the form of advantageous scheduling, the organization. Gurr, Drysdale Mulford [35], reinforced the idea that
meticulous assignment of teachers and the dispensing of recognition extensive studies demonstrate that particular leadership styles of school
to achieve these goals. The principal who embraces his role as leaders, especially instructional leadership could have positive impacts
instructional leader should ensure that the classrooms are for the most on teaching and learning environments and processes leading to
part conducive to the learning process that is adequate resources are improvements in students’ performance and academic achievements.
in place to enhance the teaching learning environment with the aim of The Coleman Report [36] demonstrated how the school has little or no
improving academic standards
effect on students’ achievements, concluding that family background
Deal and Peterson [46,47] stated that a school with positive school was the key factor influencing the students’ achievements, but Edmonds
culture is a place with a “shared sense of what is important, a shared [37] refuted this point as he believed school leadership behaviour is
ethos of care and concern and a shared commitment to students critical in determining the quality of education. Further, on the basis
attainment of success.” If these are attained there will be a maximum of his research on instructionally effective schools in Detroit and a
comfort level among teaching staff, and the climate in the school will review of previous studies involving effective schools in New York,
be one that is pleasing to work and would in turn maximize teachers’ California, and Michigan; He has concluded that school factors have
effectiveness and students’ performance. Two other studies have predominantly contributed towards the creation of instructionally
contrasted the traditional view of instructional leadership which effective schools. These factors are: strong administrative leadership,
focussed on curriculum instruction with a broader view on instructional high levels of expectations in students’
leadership focussing directly on organizational management, In the
The Impact of Effective Leaders
first study, a comparison was made with principals who spend more
time doing informal classroom observations with those who spend little Sashkin and Sashkin [14] described effective leadership as one that
or no time doing so. The findings revealed that there was no evidence is more of mutating followers to achieve goals. Hence, good leadership
that the frequency or duration of principals’ classroom observations commits to doing less and being more. In addition, they viewed good

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Page 6 of 20
performance in any secondary school as one that not only considered • The establishment of a clear focus on student learning by
academic rigour, but should also focus on other domains of education having a clear vision, clear learning goals and high expectations
such as the affective and psychomotor domains. Educational leadership for all students.
and management have now extended to include instructional leadership
• Providing instructional leadership by observing classroom
[53]. He argued that the issue of instructional leadership emerged as
teaching and giving feedback, supporting teacher autonomy
a paradigm in the 1980s for school leadership and management in
and protecting instructional time.
the United States. The theories in instructional leadership were that
the principal was critical to an effective educational institution. A • Developing a school culture conducive to teaching and learning
group of researchers elaborated that change in school management through shared leadership and decision making and risk taking
and leadership is that of effectively managing all the resources, leading to continuous improvements.
which includes the teaching-learning process and not merely the
Gurr, et al. [35], reinforced the idea that extensive studies
being consumed with administrative responsibility at the expense of
demonstrate that particular leadership styles of school leaders, especially
improving the students’ learning.
instructional leadership could have positive impacts on teaching and
There is wide recognition that school leaders exert a powerful, learning environments and processes leading to improvements in
if indirect, influence on teaching quality and students’ learning. students’ performance and academic achievements. The Coleman
In a review of literature for the American Educational Research Report [36] demonstrated how the school has little or no effect on
Association, Leithwood and Riehl [15] concluded that school students’ achievements, concluding that family background was the
leadership has significant effects on student learning, second only to key factor influencing the students’ achievements , but Edmonds
the effects of the quality of curriculum and teachers’ instruction. Case [37] refuted this point as he believed school leadership behaviour is
studies of exceptional schools indicate that school leaders influence critical in determining the quality of education. Further, on the basis
learning primarily by galvanizing effort around ambitious goals and of his research on instructionally effective schools in Detroit and a
by establishing conditions that support teachers and that help students review of previous studies involving effective schools in New York,
succeed [16]. California, and Michigan; He has concluded that school factors have
predominantly contributed towards the creation of instructionally
Indeed, research has repeatedly shown that principals play key
effective schools. These factors are: strong administrative leadership,
roles in instructional change in their schools. Their level of involvement
high levels of expectations in students’ achievements, an orderly but not
often dictates whether attempts to change instruction succeed [18].
oppressive school climate and a conducive atmosphere to instructional
For example, studies have shown that school leaders, especially within
processes.
low-performing schools, are typically ineffective in providing support
and mentoring to improve instruction, and providing direction and Finally, Bossart et al. [54] summarised the results of the recent
resources for teacher learning and professional development within studies of effective principals and successful schools into four areas of
and outside the school [18]. This pattern continues despite a great principal leadership:
deal of research that identifies the importance of the principal’s role as
instructional leader.
• Goals and production emphasis
Consequently, the National Association of Secondary School

• Power and decision making
Principals (NASP) [24] insists that the principal should provide • Organization/Coordination
leadership in the school community by building and maintaining a
vision, direction, and focus for student learning. But the association • Human Relations.
argues that the principal should never act alone. Rather, according to Motivational strategies
NASSP, all schools should establish a governing council that includes
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is consistently utilized as an example
students, parents, and staff members in key decisions to promote
of motivational theory in both practitioner and scholarly journals.
student learning and an atmosphere of participation, responsibility,
and ownership. In addition, York-Barr and Duke [31] reported that While the argument can be made that teaching might be either an art
teachers have verbalized that evaluation processes have become of science [55], it is certainly comprised of skills. One skill career and
meaningless rituals. These teachers are of the view that the evaluation technical education both teachers and school administrators must
reports are redundant and often do not provide adequate suggestions exhibit is the ability to motivate. Motivation should not only be limited
for improvement. One is cognizant of the fact that the principal has to commendations but tangible rewards can be provided for both
a multiplicity of roles to perform, but if she truly wishes to attain teachers and students. Just in the same way a teacher utilizes a certain
academic success among the students, then she has to learn the art reward system in his or her class in an effort to stimulate continuous
of delegating some of her responsibilities to the vice- principals or progress in her classroom, principals also need to find innovative ways
heads of department. Donaldson [32] endorsed the view that the to motivate his staff if he or she wishes to boost productivity.
current evaluation practices which exist in schools manifest various Motivation has been described as what energizes, directs and
inadequacies, identified was the absence of high quality feedback to sustains behaviour [56]. There are varieties of sources of motivation
teachers by those conducting this process. Feedback from this process
including goals, values and the need for achievement, biological needs
is quite beneficial as it allows the teacher to reassess her strategies in
and relatedness, among many others [57]. In addition, heuristical
an effort to garner academic success. Hence, the principal who deems
motivational model suggests the use of models which sought to
him/herself as an instructional leader will consistently seek to review
integrate various motivational theories proposed by scholars [52,58].
the evaluation and supervision process in her school.
Administrators and teachers need to utilize rules of thumb for the
In addition, Cotton has asserted that the following types of behaviours application of motivational techniques used on a consistent basis. The
by principals have a significant impact on students’ achievements: heuristical workplace model proposed that administrators be seen as

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motivators [59] and should seek to provide whatever resources that are measurement and objectivity before it can be used to establish laws and/
needed in an effort to effectively improve classroom instruction as they or theories. Crotty [62] aptly summarizes the research process using
go about the quotidian change of helping teachers to perform at their objectivistic epistemology in a diagrammatic manner highlighting the
optimal levels. rationale for conceptualization and measurement in survey research
(Figure 1):
Methods and Materials
Research design There is no denial that objectivism can be used to formulate social
theories and/or laws, which can be accommodated by way of survey
The principal focus of this study was to evaluate the influence of research and sometimes advanced multivariate statistical techniques.
instructional leadership on academic performance of students in two The present study seeks to generally understand a phenomenon
(2) secondary schools in St. Andrew, Jamaica as well as, to provide policy in attempting to 1) test hypotheses, 2) generalize, 3) use scientific
makers with needed information that will guide policy implementation proposition and 4) guide policy formulations; hence, the use of
and intervention programmes. The study will be conducted using a conceptualization and measurements, sampling, data analysis, and
non-probability (i.e. purposive sampling) sampling approaches. This document reviews.
research is twofold as 1) it is a descriptive cross-sectional survey and
Embedded in Crotty’s objectivistic schema is survey methodology,
2) interpretivism component which allowed for the use of interviews,
which is widely used by social scientists. Survey research allows for
narratives and thematic identifications. The survey method allows for
the falsification of propositions, generalization and theorizing because
the 1) measurement, 2) statistical analyses, and 3) objectivism [60-66].
of its emphasis on 1) conceptualization, and 2) measurement [71-
According to Bastick and Matalon [66], descriptive research 73]. Rosenberg’s opined that “A proposition is scientific if and only
which is quantitative in nature is a type of investigative research that if it is falsifiable” [73], suggesting a schema, gradual development of
measures the characteristics of a sample or population on pre-specified issues and a systematization in the study of any science. Crotty was
variables. This study fitted this design because it typically sought to not the first academic to use a diagrammatic and systematic display
ascertain respondents’ perspectives or experiences on a specified to encapsulate something in social sciences as Alleyne and Benn [74]
subject in a predetermined structured manner. Hence, a standardized used this approach in representing phases in a survey process. Alleyne
questionnaire was developed to collect information from a wide and Benn outlined eight components in the survey process. These are
cross-section of people [60,61]. Because of the nature of the study, the as follow [74]:
researcher sought information from people who are currently teachers
• Defining the problem
and/or administrators in the secondary educational institutions in
Jamaica (Highs schools). The use of teachers and/or educational • Planning the execution of the survey
administrators in the secondary educational institutions in Jamaica
• Preparing an outline;
was because of the nature of the subject and those persons outside of
this milieu may not be able to provide pertinent information on the • Designing the response schedule and pre-testing
topic. As a result, the decision was taken to purposively select people
• Sampling
who will be able to provide information on instructional leadership and
academic performance in Jamaica. While people in tertiary educational • Interviewing
institution would be able to provide adequate information, it was the
• Processing and analyzing the data, and
researcher’s bias to examine the issue at the secondary leadership based
on the fact that she teaches at this level. • Reporting the results
The twinned research design provides more information as In order to define the research problem or understanding the
limitations from one are offset in the other design. Based on Creswell’s researchable issues and its gaps, the researcher requires information
perspective [63], mixed research designs amalgamate the elements on past studies, theorizing, methodologies, methods, measurement and
of both quantitative and qualitative data analysis and collection, and conceptualizations. All those are enveloped in document reviews (or
therefore increases the overall strength of a research [67-70]. literature search).
Survey research Documentary reviews
Survey research is well documented in the social sciences as a A literature review is the documentary evidence which provides a
methodology which comes from positivism (or post-positivism) comprehensive understanding of a problem and/or how other studies
[62]. This methodology requires conceptualization and measurement have approach related or similar issues in the past. Neuman succinctly
of phenomenon as it seeks precision, objectivity and sometimes the summarized the literature when that “Reviewing the accumulated
forecasting of results [71]. According to Blalock [71], “Conceptualization
involves a series of processes by which theoretical constructs, ideas, and
Objectivism
concepts are classified, distinguished, and given definitions that make it
possible to reach a reasonable degree of consensus and understanding
Positivism
of the theoretical ideas we are trying to express”. Suggesting that survey
research can be used to formulate and construct theories and/or laws,
extensively evaluate issues and understand general issues. Blalock [71] Survey research
noted that “By measurement, we refer to the general process through
which numbers are assigned to objects in such a fashion that it is also Statistical analysis
understood just what kinds of mathematical operations can legitimately Figure 1: Four elements of objectivistic epistemology.
be used”. Hence, survey research is built around conceptualization,

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knowledge about a question is an essential early step in the research The sample was 100 teachers and two administrators at two
process, no matter which approach to social science you adopt. As in secondary educational institutions in St. Andrew. Fifty participants
other areas of life it is best to find out what is already known about a were drawn from the co-educational institution and the same
question before trying to answer it yourself” [67]. percentage was selected from the singled sex school. In addition to
the 100 teachers for the survey, there were eight elite interviews with
The researcher reviewed written documents including books, teachers (including senior and non-senior teachers), principals and/or
journal articles, and school documents. The review was to determine 1) vice principals.
theoretical framework, 2) items for instrument, and 3) epistemological
framework for the study, and 4) how to interpret the statistical analysis Instrumentation
as well as study. A standardized questionnaire and interview items were developed
Elite interviews in order to evaluate ‘The impact of instructional leadership on the
academic performance of students at two secondary educational
Semi-structured interviews were chosen as they were closest to
institutions in St. Andrew, Jamaica. The primary purpose of 15-item
the unstructured interview which is flexible, iterative and continuous
survey instrument (or questionnaire) was to solicit general information
[75,76] as well as more likely to yield information that were not
from a wide sample of respondents in different geographical areas in
planned for [77]. Semi-structured interviews allow for systematic and St. Andrew. The standardized questionnaire had only close ended-
consistency while giving sufficient latitude for the subject to ‘digress’ items. The survey instrument was divided into two sections. Section
thus enabling a deeper probe [78] and facilitating new and unexpected one1 had socio-demographic questions (Questions 1-3), section two
information [79]. The use of semi-structured (instead of structured) deals instructional leadership strategies and performance indicators.
format study enabled the researcher to make deeper probe into the issue The entire process of instrument design was aided by Rea and Parker’s
of instructional leadership and its impact on academic performance. book on designing and conducting survey research [60] as well as a
Elite interviews are most effective in obtaining information about copy of cross-sectional survey conducted by Powell, et al. [61] on
decision-making and the decision-making process [64] as the subjects probing political culture in Jamaica. The interview items comprised of
may be treated as ‘experts’ [64]. The interviews took the form of a five questions.
“guided conversation” [75,80] where the interviewees were seen not as Pilot study
“passive conduit for retrieving information”, but more for interpretation
and perspective (ibid) thus facilitating a deep probe. The questions A pilot study was done to validate, as well as to ensure reliability
for the elite interviews were guided by the literature review and pre- of the data gathering instrument. The researcher pilot tested the
existing notions of the researcher based on other studies (Appendix). instrument with some 15 teachers in secondary educational institutions
in St. Catherine, Jamaica. In addition to the aforementioned issue,
Population and sampling design the items were vetted by the researcher’s supervisor. Following the
The population for this research was teachers and educational vetting, editing and modification processes with the aforementioned
administrators in the secondary educational system in Jamaica. stakeholders, the researcher again pre-tested the instrument. The
exercise lasted for on average thirty minutes. The inputs of the various
The sample will be selected based on two criteria; persons who stakeholders were feedback into a modified instrument, from which
are employed as teachers in the secondary educational system in the final instrument emerged.
Jamaica and only those who are currently employed as teachers and
Administrative procedure
administrators in a secondary educational institution in Jamaica.
All persons who fulfilled these criteria were part of the sample. The In order to administer the questionnaire and the interviews, the
sample group was two (2) secondary educational institutions in the St. researcher informed participants of their rights and responsibilities
Andrew, one being co-educational and the other single-sexed school in the event they decide to participate in the study. In cases where a
(i.e. attended by only female students). Ten teachers were used for gatekeeper was used, he or she was told to inform the participants of
the sample of which five were senior teachers and five non-senior their rights and responsibility in the research process. Inform consent
teachers. The sampled respondents were purposively reselected by the was read to each participant and only those who agreed with the
researcher. This was based on the researcher’s bias that these people processes were allowed to be a part of the research. The administrative
are more likely to participate in the process and researcher having procedure in completing the questionnaires was also explained. For the
known them on a personal or work related manner. Having known interviews, people were informed of their rights and responsibilities,
the people from before, it was easier for the researcher to approach and unwritten consent was sought and accepted before they were
these individuals and request their assistance in being a participant in allowed to participate in the study. In addition to the aforementioned
the study. If an individual was busy or unwilling to participate in the issues, those who participated were made cognizant of the likeliness of
process, the researcher eliminates this person and move to other people withdrawing from the process at any time if they so desire.
that she knows who was more likely to engage in the process. Method of analysis
In addition to person who the researcher knew in other areas of life, For this survey instrument (questionnaire), the large volume of
at the other educational institution, the researcher used a gatekeeper data was stored, retrieved and analyzed using the statistical packages
(a person she knew) who is informed of the matter and asked her to for the social sciences (SPSS) for Windows version 20.0 (SPSS Inc;
seek willing participants for the study. The gatekeeper was given the Chicago, IL, USA- IBM, ud). Descriptive statistics were performed on
sole responsibility to have the questionnaire answer and interview the data as well as, percentage and frequency distributions (include
conducted. In cases where interview had to be done, the gatekeeper was percentages and frequency counts). Descriptive statistics allowed the
forwarded with a tape recorder that was used to store the information researcher to meaningfully describe the many pieces of data collected
for future use. Gay and Airasian [79]. Statistical significance was determined a p-value

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less than or equal to five percentage points (≤ 0.05)-two-tailed. In have to be clearly established [36]. As such, the necessary steps taken
addition to descriptive statistics, scatter plots and box plots were also to ensure that the proposed project has both internal and external
used to analyze or present the data. Multi-analysis of Variance was used validity and internal and external reliability on the instrument used
to examine particular linear dependent variable by multi-independent are outlined. According to Wiersman, reliability is concerned with the
variables. The qualitative data was analysed using themes, narrations reliability and consistency of the methods, conditions and results while
and other descriptions. validity deals with the accurate interpretability of the results and the
generalizability of the results.
Ethical concerns and informed consent
In order to ensure a high response rate on the questionnaire, the
Like Kuhn noted science is so because of the approaches taken, the
researcher ensured that all steps were taken to have the number of
rigours followed objectivity, measurement and gradual development.
items not more than is necessary to elicit the required information,
The social science is an inquiry into social phenomena, meaning
thus avoiding unnecessary and ambiguous questions. The researcher
peoples’ attitudes, behaviours and perceptions. Because social science
also established a directory of the respondents so as to be able to make
is on people, care must be taken in how the information is gathered
the relevant follow up calls. The researcher also did personal deliveries
[67,68]. To comprehend the seriousness of ethical issues, in Neuman’s
and pickup of the instruments, in an effort to personally outline to the
book entitled “Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
respondents the importance of their responses to the project.
Approaches’ chapter 5 reads ‘The Literature Review and Ethical
Concerns’, suggesting that document analysis which provides the In this study, reliability of some items was based on Equivalence
context for scientific investigation must take into consideration ethical Reliability-Cronbach alpha [67]. This was compared based on high or
standards that hold true throughout the research process. He opined low values of Cronbach alpha. Reliability was increased by way of using
that “Researchers need to prepare themselves and consider ethical 1) previously tested items (or questions), 2) pre-testing, testing and
concerns as they design a study so that sound ethical practices is built in post-testing of items. The researcher adheres to the following types of
to the study design”. He noted further that “Ethics define what is or is measuring validity-1) Face validity, 2) Content validity, 3) Criterion
not legitimate to do, or what ‘moral; research procedure involves” [67]. validity, and 4) Concurrent validity [67].
In keeping with Neuman’s perspective, the researcher includes Instructional leadership is the summation of 12 Likert scale items
ethics as a part of the research process and followed it throughout. (Questions 4-15). The Cronbach alpha for the 12-item Likert Scale
Firstly, the researcher ensures that nowhere on the survey instrument Index was 0.943. A Cronbach alpha of 0.943 means that the 12-item is
requires the participant to give his/her name, other personal identifiers a good measure of the construct of instructional leadership. The inter-
and information that can be traced back to the individual. Secondly, correlations are provided in Table 1.
the participants were informed of their rights and responsibility of the
Operational definition
subjects, and that they can withdraw from the process if they so desire.
An informed concern Form was given to each willing subjects to sign Academic performance: This refers to pupils’ success in meeting
before they were allowed to participate in the research. short-to-long term goals.
Validity and reliability This construct is derived by the average of last semester grades for
the students that the teacher taught.
Kuhn [72] who had a doctorate in physics argued expensively on
the validity and verifiability of qualitative inquiry despite its seemingly Instructional leadership: The individual who has the responsibility
non-objectivism. Knowing how things operate was not singly embedded to manage the school’s curriculum
in empiricism, objective measurability and statistical analyses [72,81]
as meaning accounts for actions that are sometimes outside of the Based on how the items were entered into the SPSSS, where
realm of objectivism. It can be extrapolated from Kuhn’s perspectives 1=strongly agree, 2= agree, 3=disagree and 4=strongly disagree,
that validity and reliability is equally important in all scientific inquiry, these were recoded into 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree and
and the issues of conceptualization and measurement must include an 4=strongly disagree. Instructional Leadership is an index which is the
aspect of validity and verification. summation of 12 items from Likert ranged questions (Appendix I). The
scores range from 1 to 48, where higher values indicate greater degree
For any research project to be credible, its reliability and validity of instructional leadership.
ques4 ques5 ques6 ques7 ques8 ques9 ques10 ques11 ques12 ques13 ques14 ques15
ques4 1 0.538 0.653 0.529 0.461 0.47 0.56 0.584 0.711 0.695 0.3 0.555
ques5 0.538 1 0.705 0.637 0.57 0.093 0.556 0.619 0.544 0.641 0.353 0.464
ques6 0.653 0.705 1 0.788 0.816 0.497 0.669 0.627 0.668 0.791 0.543 0.691
ques7 0.529 0.637 0.788 1 0.852 0.322 0.691 0.53 0.6 0.676 0.417 0.703
ques8 0.461 0.57 0.816 0.852 1 0.364 0.739 0.516 0.605 0.592 0.522 0.643
ques9 0.47 0.093 0.497 0.322 0.364 1 0.551 0.294 0.526 0.597 0.592 0.61
ques10 0.56 0.556 0.669 0.691 0.739 0.551 1 0.529 0.498 0.595 0.596 0.648
ques11 0.584 0.619 0.627 0.53 0.516 0.294 0.529 1 0.75 0.685 0.514 0.639
ques12 0.711 0.544 0.668 0.6 0.605 0.526 0.498 0.75 1 0.82 0.353 0.746
ques13 0.695 0.641 0.791 0.676 0.592 0.597 0.595 0.685 0.82 1 0.451 0.699
ques14 0.3 0.353 0.543 0.417 0.522 0.592 0.596 0.514 0.353 0.451 1 0.467
ques15 0.555 0.464 0.691 0.703 0.643 0.61 0.648 0.639 0.746 0.699 0.467 1
Table 1: Inter-item correlation matrix.

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Senior teacher: An experienced teacher who is committed to a high

quality of teaching and professional development. Gender
Male
Limitations Female
60.0%
Among the disadvantages of non-probability sampling techniques
are 1) it does not allow for the generalizability of results, 2) results are
not necessarily repeatable, and 3) the expressed views are only those
of the studied participants at the time of the investigation. Those
limitations are evident in this research as it employed a non-probability
Percent
40.0%
sampling design. 69.57%

64.52%
Findings
Table 2 presents information on the socio-demographic 20.0%
characteristics of the sampled respondents. The majority of the 35.48%
30.43%
respondents were females (69%), non-senior teachers (68%), and have
been teaching for 4-10 years (43%).
Figure 2 shows the position of the respondents based on gender .0%
Senior Teacher No post of special responsibility
distribution. There were more female non-senior teachers (69.6%) than
Position
their male counterparts (65.4%) and this was reverse among the senior
Figure 2: Position of teacher by gender.
teachers.
Figure 3 depicts a bar graph of gender of respondents and their
relevant length of service in teaching. More females have spent more Gender
50.0%
than 4 years’ service in teaching compared to their male counterparts Male
Female
(Figure 3).
Figure 4 is a graphical representation of position of respondents 40.0%
and their length of service in teaching. The majority of the senior

teachers have spent at least 11 years in teaching (65.6%) compared to
30.0%
30.9% of those whom are non-senior teachers.
Percent
Research question one 44.93% 43.48%

20.0%
Does instructional leadership influence academic performance of 38.71% 38.71%
students?
22.58%
Table 3 presents descriptive statistics on instructional leadership 10.0%
index and academic performance of the students for sampled teachers. 11.59%
The overall academic performance of students taught by the sampled

teachers was 72.2% ± 14.5%, indicating that in general the students are .0%
1-3 years service 4-10 years service 11+ years
high performers. Instructional leadership in the sampled schools was Length of service
high 33.7 ± 8.1, 95% CI: 32.1-35.3, with the maximum value being 48.0. Figure 3: Length of service by gender.
Figure 5 presents descriptive statistics on the academic performance

of the students taught by the sampled teachers. While the average the bold line in the rectangular box), the upper limit was 98% and the
academic performance of the teacher’s students was 72.2% (shown by lower limit was 40%.
Figure 6 depicts a box plot of Instructional Leadership Index.
Characteristic Frequency (Percentage)
The mean instructional leadership index was 33.7 (represents by the
Gender
bold line inside the rectangular box), with the upper limit was 45 and
Male 31 (31) the lower limit was 20 (Figure 6). Simply put, the sampled teachers
Female 69 (69) rated the instructional leadership in their school as low as 20 and the
Position highest being 45. This means that there are teachers whom believed
Senior teacher 32 (32) that instructional leadership in their school is low (20) and reverse was
Non-senior teacher 68 (68) also true (45). The scores were out of a possible maximum of 48 and a
School typology minimum of 1.
Co-educational 50 (50)
Figure 7 shows a scatter diagram of academic performance of
Singled sex 50 (50)
students for the sampled teachers and instructional leadership index.
Length of service On eyeballing the scatter diagram (Figure 7), there is a positive statistical
1-3 years 15 (15) correlation between the two aforementioned variables. In fact, using
4-10 years 43 (43) squared R, a significant statistical relationship existed between academic
11+ years 42 (42) performance and instructional leadership. Furthermore, with a value of
Table 2: Socio-demographic characteristics of sampled respondents, n=100. 0.014 (or 1.4%) it suggests that the linear relationship is a positively

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In the qualitative data gathering (elite interviews with teachers and

Position educational administrators in the secondary school studied), all the
Senior Teacher
No post of special
responsibility
participants indicated that instructional leadership influences academic
60.0%
performance of the students in the institution. They argued that the
very nature of instructional leadership lends itself to improvements
in academic performance of the students. The belief that continuous
Percent
40.0%
45
65.63%
47.06% 40
20.0%
34.38%
30.88%
22.06% 35
.0%
1-3 years service 4-10 years service 11+ years 30
Length of service
Figure 4: Position and length of service.

25
Characteristic Mean ± SD; 95% CI

Instructional leadership index 33.7 ± 8.1; 32.1-35.3 20
Students’ performance 72.2% ± 14.5%; 69.3% to 75.1% Instructional Leadership
Table 3: Descriptive statistics of instructional leadership index and students’ Figure 6: Box plot of instructional leadership.
academic performance of the sampled teachers.
R2 Linear = 0.014
100.00
100
90.00
90
Academic Performance
80.00
80 70.00
60.00
70
50.00
60
40.00
20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00

Instructional Leadership
50
Figure 7: Scatter diagram of academic performance of the teacher’s
students and instructional leadership index.
40
Academic performance
120
Figure 5: Box plot of academic performance of the student taught by the
sampled teachers. y = -0.020x2 + 1.568x + 44.00
100 R2 = 0.019
P
weak one as only 1.4% of the variance in academic performance of the A e
80
c r
teacher’s students can be accounted for by instructional leaderships. a
f
o
This denotes that almost 98.6% of the variance in the academic d
r 60
e
performance of students for the sampled teachers is not based on m
m a
instructional leadership, as well as the relationship may not be a linear i n
c c
40
one. e
20
Figure 8 depicts a non-linear scatter diagram between the academic
performance of the teacher’s students and instructional leadership. 0
Clearly, the relationship between the two aforementioned variables is 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
not curvilinear one as the squared R accounts for 1.9% of the variability Instructional Leadership Index
in academic performance and instructional leadership as in this case Figure 8: Scatter diagram of the academic performance of the teacher’s
students and instructional leadership.
the squared r only increased by five tenths percentage (Figure 8).

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gathering of data and using them to feedback in the teaching-learning

process facilities improvements in academic performance of students 100.0%
Position
Senior Teacher
as well as the atmosphere that this accounts lends itself to. Some of No post of special
responsibility
the respondents recalled what has happened in their institutions to
justify the linkage between academic performance of the students and 80.0%
instructional leadership. Ms. Clarke (pseudo name) stated that “(If the
students) aren’t motivated to exert their best effort because they know
60.0%
Percent
that no one is expecting it from them, they won’t do well academically”
using that to indicate the obvious relationship between instructional
leadership and academic performance of students. 40.0% 83.82%
78.13%
Research question two

Can instructional leadership have an impact on teachers’ 20.0%
instructions? 21.88%
16.18%
Figure 9 shows a pie-graph of participants’ views on “Does .0%

instructional leadership influence your teaching instructions?” The Yes No
Instructional leadership influencing teaching
majority of the respondents indicated that instructional leadership instructions
impacts their teaching instruction (82%). Figure 10: Instructional leadership influencing teaching instructions by
position.
Eight three and eight tenth (83.8) percentage points of those in the
non-senior teachers indicated that instructional leadership influence
their teaching instruction compared to 78.1% points of those in senior
Length of service
teacher categorization (Figure 10), with their being statistical difference 100.0% 1-3 years service
4-10 years service
between the figures (χ2=0.419, P=0.374). 11+ years
Figure 11 depicts the results of instructional leadership on length 80.0%

of service. The majority of the people in the different length of service
categorizations indicated that instructional leadership (or supervision)
influences the individual’s teaching instructions. 60.0%
Percent
Of those in the co-educational school type marginally believed that

instructional leadership can influence teaching instructions (86.0%) 40.0% 80.0% 81.4% 83.33%
compared to 78.0% of those in the singled sex educational instrument,

with there being no statistical relationship between the two variables
(χ2=1.084, P=0.294) (Figure 12). 20.0%
Of those who are males, marginally more of them believed that

instructional leadership influence teaching instructions (87.1%) .0%
Yes No
compared to 77.7% of females. There was no statistical relationship Instructional leadership influencing teaching
between the two aforementioned variables (χ2=0.791, P=0.374) instructions
(Figure 13). Figure 11: Instructional leadership influencing teaching instructions by
length of service.
Instructional
leadership Table 4 presents descriptive statistics from an Independent Sample
and teaching
instructions t-test with instructional leadership index and teaching instructions.
Yes Participants whom indicated that they used teaching instructions
No
rate the instructional leadership at their institution to be 33.4 ± 8.3
compared to 34.3 ± 7.7 for those whom stated that they did not use
teaching instructions, with there being no statistical difference between
18.00%
the two values (t-test=-0.517, P=0.607). With the P value being 0.607, it
means that no statistical relationship exists because the value is greater
than 0.05 (or 5%).
Research question three
Does instructional leadership vary based on the typology of school?
82.00%
The box plot of instructional leadership index by typology of
school revealed that participants in singled sex secondary educational
institutions rate instructional leadership in their schools as greater
39.6 ± 4.6 compared to their counterparts in co-educational secondary
Figure 9: The influence of instructional leadership on teaching instructions.
institutions (27.8 ± 6.2), t-test=-10.733, P<0.0001 (Figure 14). A
significant P value (i.e. P<0.05 which is <0.0001 in this study) denotes

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teachers and students who are highly motivated and who performed
100.0%
School Type at their optimal level.” She continued to say that, “Teachers would
Co-Educational
Singled Sex have the needed resources to improve instruction; they would know
that tests results would be useful to the curriculum that the school uses
80.0% and in return the necessary measures would be put in place so that
students’ academic performance could be improved. If this is achieved,
the school’s spirit would be lifted and teachers would move forward
60.0%
in a harmonious way.” The participants opined if the principal is an
Percent
instructional leader, he or she would be able to marshal his/her troops

40.0%
86.0% for the cause. “I believe that every principal should be an instructional
78.0%
leader because there must be guidance from the head first and then
it trickles down to other managers in the institution. Also, without a
20.0% (clear) vision the people perish. Hence, the principal should have a
22.0%
vision for an institution, which is shared and carried forward in the
14.0% instructional development of teachers and students” Mrs. Lindo said
.0%
Yes No
(pseudo name).
Instructional leadership influencing teaching
instructions Clearly the participants were cognizant of the challenges of the
Figure 12: Instructional leadership influencing teaching instructions by secondary educational system and the benefits of that can be derived
school type. from instructional leadership as this was a sustained response across
the interviews. “Yes, based on the benefits that instructional leadership
provides. Employees’ turnover will be very high if a leader/principal
Gender
cannot create an environment that is characterized of high expectations
100.0%
Male for students and staff. Ultimately, it will not go well for stakeholders
Female
involved in the school community if effective instructional leadership
is not maintained” Mr. Reid remarked (pseudo name). One participant
80.0%
contextualized the role of the principal, and then used this to argue the
importance of instructional leadership in schools. “It is the principal’s
responsibility to work with teachers to define educational objectives,
60.0%
Percent
create a climate of high expectation for both staff and students,

provide the necessary resources for learning, communicate these to the
40.0%
87.1%
79.71% relevant personnel and create new learning opportunities for students
and staffers. Those reasons provide the rationale for instructional
leadership and the primary leader being the principal” Ms. Matthews
20.0% argued (pseudo name). Ms. Matthews’ perspective was equally shared
20.29%
by other interviews, with variations in how the issue was expressed.
12.9% This was aptly captured in participant’s argument, “They (scholars)
.0%
Yes No
said that every instructional leadership encompasses a commitment
Instructional leadership influencing teaching to the achievement of academic goals, creates order and discipline
instructions
in a school, improve the culture and climate of the institution,
Figure 13: Instructional leadership influencing teaching instructions by
emphasizes good time management techniques and the provision of
gender.
resources to improve classroom practices and academic performance.
Characteristic Mean Deviation Standard

Teaching instruction Yes 33.4 8.3 45.00
Instructional leadership index No 34.3 7.7 64 38

t-test=-0.517, P=0.607 12
Instructional Leadership Index
40.00 65 13
Table 4: Independent sample t-test of instructional leadership index and teaching
instruction.
35.00
that participants in singled sex secondary educational instrument were
more likely to indicate a greater instructional leadership in their school
than those in co-educational secondary school. 30.00
Research question four

25.00
Explore instructional leadership in secondary educational
institutions in St. Andrew, Jamaica.
Instructional leadership 20.00
Co-Educational Singled Sex

All the participants across the interviews believed that the principal School Type
should be an instructional leader. Ms. Bent (pseudo name) said that Figure 14: Box plot of instructional leadership index by school type.
“If every principal were instructional leaders, schools would have

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Page 14 of 20
If instructional leadership offers all these benefits, then all principals him (my principal) [2]. There is the urgent need to have an instructional
despite their cumbersome workload even if they have to delegate, they leader in this school as the quality of scores in the external exams has
should embrace this concept.” fallen and students are not taken a serious approach to internal exams.”
Clearly, participants continue to interpret their principal’s leadership
The principals interviewed for this study were cognizant of the
approach to assess its closeness to instructional leadership, identify
concept of instructional leadership. They even demonstrated how
the gaps, examine its benefits and therefore argue for this style of
the issue of instructional leadership was embraced by them and
leadership in schools. “Absolutely, instructional leadership is essential
they seek to execute many of its tenets. One principals indicated
to the academic growth of an institution as it allows external results to
that he 1) walked the corridors, 2) observed some classes in session,
improve”, Mr. Reynolds said.
3) seek to motivate heads of departments and the general staffers, 4)
seek to standardize tests and mark schemes, 5) have common lesson The respondents contended that the feedback generated from
plans, 6) seek to improve the physical infrastructure, 7) have regular instructional leadership provides the bedrock upon which future
feedback following internal and external examinations, and 8) and improvements can be made. “I believe there is a correlation between
improve technological capabilities of the institution. While the other the two (instructional leadership and academic performance) because
principal, was more relaxed, confident and eager to express herself it is through the acquisition of knowledge that one is able to perform;
on the nature of instructional leadership. She contended that “Firstly, it is through a focal point (vision) that all can work to achieve a desired
school leadership to a great extent has significant effects on students’ goal; and motivation makes the success in academic performance
learning as well as teacher motivation. Every principal, although even greater” Ms. Livingston said. All the participants concurred with
our job description is a mammoth one, embracing instructional each other that there is an obvious relationship between instructional
leadership is of paramount importance when managing a school. It leadership and academic performance. Ms. Spencer recalled what
allows administration to be intimately (she chuckles) involved in the transpired at her school to declare that there is a positive relationship
process of instructional delivery. Although we may not be physically between the two aforementioned factors. “Instructional leadership
present at all times in the classrooms, based on the relationship among boosts academic performance as the former principal focused on
heads of department and their members and the feedback I receive, the curriculum and we saw a great difference in the performance of
I am cognizant of what happens in the classroom.” She continued students” Ms. Spencer noted. While in the elite interview participants
that “Apart from the fact that that every leader is in the business of did not have empiricism to support the claim of a relationship between
management being an instructional leader is inextricably linked to the instructional leadership and academic performance, the current
management of a school. This is also important as it helps one to do an quantitative study shows that there is a direct correlation between
evaluation of the students’ progress and initiate programmes/strategies the two phenomena. Although the quantitative aspect of the study
to address them.” identified a positive relationship between instructional leadership
and academic performance, it was weak one which opens a discussion
Extent of principals as instructional leadership
of ‘What are the other factors that influence academic performance,
All the participants expressed some variations in the extent outside of instructional leadership?’.
of instructional leadership at their institution. It appears that the
Ms. Sinclair commented that “Based on the fact that our principal
educational training of many of the interviewees made them adequate
is an instructional leader, we have been rated as the top school in a
and comprehensive aware of instructional leadership, its tenets and how
number of subject areas. Currently, all our CSEC and CAPE subjects
it should be employed in schools. Ms. Lyttle (pseudo name) said that have a pass rate of 85% and over. We examine the students’ progress
“My principal doesn’t understand what instructional leadership means from first form and implement strategies to boost performance and
much less to embrace it. From his approach to leadership, he may be these have been proven to be successful”. It could be extrapolated from
attempting to be an instructional leader, but he is failing to improve Ms. Sinclair’s construction that there is a strong correlation between
curriculum, create a climate of high expectations for staff and students, instructional leadership and academic performance, which would
evaluate tests results and make recommendations for improvement mean that things like 1) ability of the student, 2) preparation of the
and provide resources to improve instruction and motivate staff and student, 3) how the student copes with examination stress, 4) dietary
students on a regular basis”. Unlike Ms. Lyttle, the other participants intake of the student, and 5) time management have less to contribute
believed that their principals generally understand the concept, and to academic performance than instructional leadership. While Ms.
has been satisfactorily practicing it in the school. Accompanying the Sinclair’s perspective provides an additional factor of academic
satisfactory remark by the participants is the claim that there is need performance it cannot be strong contributor to academic performance
for more improvement on the extent of the instructional leadership when many students have highlighted the importance of many of the
practiced at their institution. On the other hand, another respondent aforementioned factors in performance. Like the general information
offered an explanation why some principals are unable to effectively that emerged from this research that there is a strong correlation
carry out instructional leadership, resource constraints. Mr. Clarke between academic performance and instructional leadership as
mentioned that “I am of the belief that he is hampered by a lack of emanated from the teachers’ perspective, the principals shared the
financial resources to implement certain elements of such leadership. same view.
I also am of the view that better implementation techniques use
with instructional leadership can be employed. For example, staff
Motivation
motivation/appreciation should not be responsibility of teachers to One of the themes that emerged from the elite interviews
plan regardless of the fiscal constraints.” with particular stakeholders was the fact that one of the tenets of
instructional leadership is motivation and it is this ingredient that good
Role of instructional leadership
managers in schools can use to change undesired behaviours into good
In assessing the instructional capability of his principal, Mr. Tomlin desired behaviours. The participants argued by that instructional leader
noted that “On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, I would give motivate staffers and students, it becomes easier for him/her to show

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the desired landmark to those involved and this increases the desire for have the responsibility of sharing with the other members of their
people to excel, offer their best and be encouraged to give even more to department. We also do our research to investigate whether another
a cause. They alluded to the psychological tenets of motivation and how school, although we are rated with the top performing schools, has an
it translates into positive reinforcement of desired behaviours. academic edge and we partner so best practices can be shared. Hence,
the teachers have their ‘fingers on the pulse’ in relation to innovative
Feedback
ideas use in instruction” she said. The principal believed so much in the
The purpose of feedback was offered by almost all of the participants resources and social milieu that when she was asked “To what extent
in the elite interviews. People noted that it is through assessment, do you view yourself as an instructional leader”, the response was “I
evaluation, analysis of issues and time reporting of what happened that would rate myself at 8.5 out of ten. Still [I] have a bit more work to
one is able to identify strengths and weaknesses that are embedded into do on the physical plant, boosting students a bit more in relation to
a practice. “Feedback offers information and knowledge is power” Ms. their enthusiasm towards certain subject areas and award a bit more
Williams said. Ms. Williams’ comment was equally echoed by other (to staffers) since [to]a large extent most teachers are committed to
interviewees including the principals. One interviewee’s description their roles and functions.” Embedded in the principal’s perspective
of instructional leadership offers an explanation for the high quality is the value of the social environment as a part of the overall quality
results that feedback can provide as it highlights areas of strengths and performance of students, the outcome.
weaknesses. “My classes are visited once per term by administration.
The feedback given only serves the purpose of commending or It is this very reason why she added that despite the initial the role
highlighting areas that need improvement” Ms. Simpson said. It can of the being to provide educating the children, aiding them as a part
be extrapolated from Ms. Simpson’s perspective, like the others, that of the positive reinforcement mechanism will create an environment
feedback is a resource that can be used to improve one’s weaknesses that solicits more them. Outside of the physical resources, embodied
and reinforces his/her strength. When the information is provided by in all the comments forwarded by participants including the principals
the administrators, the information (or feedback) becomes a part of highlight the human resource and how increasing the quality of the
the teaching-learning process and this deepens the quality of the next human resource improves overall academic performance of the
exercise. students. It can be noted here that among the elements forwarded
by a principal, all of them rely on the human resource to be execute
Resources and school environment and there this speaks to the importance of the quality of the human
A principal’s listing of components of instructional leadership sets resource in obtain high quality performance in the area of academics.
the stage this theme. She listed As such, this explains the rationale behind award incentives for high
standard, gifts, materials, and provide a socio-physical environment
• Analysis of both internal and external exams that will allow the human capital to function at its highest and therefore
• Continuous improvement of the physical plant this will provide the high end yields or outcomes. The aforementioned
is captured in this statement made by a principal that “…Just take a
• Prize giving for each grade level look at our internal and external results (hope I am being modest). If a
• Incentives scheme for staff with averages of 90% and over in leader embraces even a significant aspect of this type of leadership (i.e.
external exams instructional leadership), (s)he would reap benefits as long as (s)he is
cognizant of the cliché, delegate or die.
• Provision of resources to boost teaching and learning
Discussion and Recommendation
• Creation of an appropriate climate for teacher to work
Among the legacies of British in the Caribbean, particularly
• Open door communication process with principal Jamaica, is an educational system that is substantially based on
• Visibility and presence of the principal testing and evaluation to determine competence and knowledge.
Jamaica’s educational system is fundamentally predicted on testing
• Standardization of mark schemes and common tests in and evaluation as the bedrock to indicate degree of performance [81].
departments The secondary school system in Jamaica, like the wider Caribbean,
• Intervention programmes for weak students is based on external examination to determine further academic
pursuit of pupils. Currently, many nations in the Caribbean used the
• Score cards for teachers as they are thoroughly evaluated by Caribbean Examination Council certification to ascribe knowledge and
heads of department. competence of students at the secondary level. Prior to the Caribbean
The principal’s listing highlight that of the eleven elements Examination Council certificate in in the Caribbean was 1) Cambridge
outlined, the majority of them relate directly or indirectly to resources Examination Council (GCE), 2) Pitman Examination, 3) London
and/or school milieu. On examination of the elements of instructional Examination Council and other examinations developed and designed
leadership by a principal, it can be deduced that school’s milieu in Britain to evaluate performance at the secondary level. Although an
extends beyond physical to the social environment. By controlling the external examination (or test) is not only indicator of performance,
environment in a school, it is easy to see how instructional leadership it is widely accepted as a summary of capability, skills, knowledge,
offers an explanation for good management practices and how goals competence and aptitude future studies or employment. There is no
can be attained by the institution and those therein. The principal’s denial that testing and evaluation are a part of culture in Jamaica and
comments aptly summarized how a good environment and availability other Caribbean nations used to assess academic performance, which
of resources for the milieu can lead to high expectations among is adoptation the British Educational System. Caribbean children are
all therein. “Oh, my teachers have to attend at least one seminar or culturalized into testing and evaluation and dates back to elementary
workshop for the year. They are also in house workshops for our school where students are assessed internally and finally by the
teachers. Once per year we have a retreat for senior staffers who Ministry of Education [21]. The entire society is structure on testing

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and evaluation of pupils that students are adjudged as succession on the instructional leadership as a tool for school management which
premise that they reach a particular standard on internal and external emerged in the 1980s in America [8,53].
examination. It is this reality that explains why pupils who attend
The principal is expected to be person who effectively coalesce
secondary schools are adjudged in Jamaica. The evaluation is not singly
all the resources, human and otherwise, with the primary purpose of
for the students as it is also for the teachers, and ultimately the yardstick
meeting the expected outcome of the society. The expected outcome
for assessing the performance of a principal. Such situation accounts
of the society is high expectation of the students, expressed in terms of
for the continuously demands and pressure placed on principals to
high performance on internal and/or external testing measurements.
produce students who have met the internal and external expectations
Cotton [11] cited the idea that effective instructional leadership
in testing and measurement. involved principals who were intensely involved in curricular and
There is much psychological pressure placed on students in the instructional issues that directly impacts on students’ achievement.
educational system in Jamaica, and this begin at the primary level. With instructional improvement at the top of a principal’s priority list,
The psychological stressors levied on Jamaican students have been there is the autonomy to ensure that the major issues or concerns are
expounded upon by Luton, former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Edward addressed in the educational setting. Short and Spencer [12] opined
Seaga and the present Minister of Education, Ronald Thwaites as well that instructional leadership included various elements which were
as scholars, Colquhoun and Bourne, [81]. Luton [10] wrote an article extremely important if principals hoped to accomplish academic
which was caption ‘GSAT is apartheid’, which aptly summarises the success. The principal should be able to prioritize according to the
challenges of students at the primary level. Luton [10] opined that needs of the institution. On reading the literature, the impression is
Thwaites (Current Minister of Education) said “this high-stakes given that instructional leadership accounts for a significant change in
terminal examination wreaks fear and trauma among parents and academic performance of students. This study refutes the perspective
children alike, all because of the perceived and the real absence of that instructional leadership accounts for a strong influence on the
quality secondary places.” Despite the captions and speeches made by performance of pupils. In fact, the current work found that instructional
different influential Jamaica, students are still adjudged based on the leadership accounts for only 1.4% of the variance in academic
testing and evaluation system. On examination of Seaga’s perspective performance of students. Clearly there is a weak statistical correlation
again highlights the travails of many students and parents and not the between instructional leadership and academic performance of
least are there teachers and principals. Seaga opined that: students, which concurs with a research done by Leithwood, et al. [17].
The present findings highlight that academic performance is
The consequence of the excessive homework burden falls on
influenced by instructional leadership; but that its impact is minimal
the parent/caregiver who either responds by giving full assistance
on performance of students unlike the claims alluded to in the
to the student, or fails to respond, leaving the student to take on the
literature and in the qualitative aspect of this work. This work went
responsibility alone. Obviously, the degree of assistance received
further than previous studies on instructional leadership, by examining
will markedly improve the success of the student. Although this is a
the students’ academic performance, degree of instructional leadership
desirable relationship between parents and children, the first part of the
and other factors that influence outcome of students on internal
problem starts here [82].
and external examinations. Currently, the pupils in the sample are
The GSAT is not a once-a-year problem. It is an insidious problem high performers although instructional leadership was moderately
for the great majority of parents and caregivers, almost daily. This practiced by the studied principals. If the pupils are high performers
agitation occurs particularly with those responsible for nine and in a moderate instructional leadership milieu, it follows that there are
10-year-old students approaching the dreaded GSAT exam that is taken other factors account for their academic achievement. Included among
at age 11. The heavy burden of homework in preparation for GSAT is the factors that influenced academic performance are 1) self-esteem,
occupying from two or three hours. This is a prime grievance [82]. 2) aptitude of students, 3) parental background including income, 4)
coping strategies, 5) teacher involvement and 6) socio-physical milieu
Seaga’s comment that “The GSAT is not a once-a-year problem. It including the school’s environment.
is an insidious problem for the great majority of parents and caregivers,
almost daily” [82], can be juxaposed for all external examinations, When one argues that instructional leadership is strongly
parents and caregivers. The teachers and principals of all schools correlated with academic performance of students, (s)he is postulating
in Jamaica are continuously assessed based on internal and external that self-esteem, socio-physical environment, coping strategies,
testing and measurement; and much pressure is placed on them for intelligence quotients, parental background, nutrition and students’
perform at an expected standard. Students are placed under ‘invisible attitude towards academic are lowerly correlated with academic
disability’ to perform academically in schools [83], and should come performance. Purkey [93] found that self-esteem is directly associated
as no surprise the stressful milieu that is created for them result in with academic performance. In fact, another study by Colquhoun and
low academic performance [83]. The psychological stressors levied on Bourne [83] discovered a strong positive statistical correlation between
students is account for their low academic performance [84,85], and general academic performance and self-esteem (rs=0.611, P<0.0001).
it is the teachers, particularly the principals, who are held accountable A research found a weak statistical correlation between self-esteem and
for the dismal performance of pupils. While academic performance academic performance [94]. This work did not examine either self-
esteem as a variable in the quantitative or qualitative research and so
is influenced by social milieu and psychological issues [86-90]; the
cannot comment, except to say that other factors account for academic
teachers’ motivation and expectation [91,92] as well as the principals
performance of the present work based on unexplained variance having
input are among many factors that influence academic performance of
taken out instructional leadership.
pupils. Yet the principal is held accountable for the students’ successes
and failures. The principal is equated to the manager of a fortune five With academic performance being great among the sampled
company, and (s)he is totally responsible for failure and successes respondents even though instructional leadership is moderate denotes
of the institution and explains the rationale behind the concept of that something else is account for the high performance of the pupils

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Page 17 of 20
involved in this research. A factor that was not examined is stressors. resource materials, teachers’ competence, continuously feedback and
There are many empirical studies that have established the inverse assessment, and management of the human and physical resources
statistical association between stressors and academic performance provide some influence on learning outcomes, they play a secondary
and in fact some found that those with less stressors are the better role to improving academic performance [100].
academic performers [95-98], suggesting that pupils in this study The current work has gone beyond the literature by examining
may be the among the lowly stressed ones. Even among a secondary instructional leadership employed by two school types in St. Andrew,
school aged cohort, a study by Malik and Balda, [99] found that even Jamaica. A significant finding which emerges is that instructional
among adolescents with high Intelligence Quotient (IQ), 110 and over, leadership is more practiced in the singled sex secondary school than in
academic stress was indirectly associated with academic performance the co-educational secondary institution studied. Although the singled
(r=-0.37, P<0.05). Again, there is nothing to test this work in the sex secondary school is among the top academic performers in Jamaica,
present work; but this findings offers an insight to other factors that can the top secondary school is a co-educational institution, which further
account for remaining 98.6% of the unexplained variance in academic goes to mitigates against the concept that instructional leadership
performance having accounted for instructional leadership (1.4%). is the most important factor influencing academic performance in
Another issue that was not discounted for in this research is the students at the secondary level. In fact, the top academic secondary
motivational level among the sampled students. Ms. Bent (pseudo school in Jamaica, Campion College, has a number of characteristics
name) said that “If every principal were instructional leaders, schools that can explain it high achievement among the students. The factors
would have teachers and students who are highly motivated and who are, on average, family live to good neighbours, have access to financial
performed at their optimal level” as if to say that instructional leader resources, students can be assigned specific tut ledge if needs be,
must be able motive the students to the desired level. The Bent ascribed children have access to available needed material resources, good
almost everything good with academic performance to instructional nutrition, and are exposed to less psychological stressors like those
students who dwell in inner-city communities. Another issue that
leadership, and in this failure to accept that there is internal and external
accounts for the greater academic performance among students who
motivation and that the student may be intrinctacily motivated which
attend Campion College is the aptitude of the pupils who were sent
has nothing to do with the school or the principal. It can be extrapolated
there from GSAT. The students are the top performers and therefore
from the present findings that the students in this study have motivated
this institution has an advantage over those who are allotted poor-to-
outside of instructional leadership, and that principal ship had little to
moderate academic performers. Hence, instructional leadership cannot
explain the good academic performance of the pupils.
balance the imbalances of students, particularly as it relates to academic
There is no denial that the management of a school influences attitude. As students with greater intelligence quotient (IQ) with
academic performance, and the contribution of a principal aid in limited instructional supervision are highly likely to outperformance
better (or worse) academic outcomes of pupils; but in the same breath those with lower IQ and more instructional supervision. Like Campion
instructional leadership should not be ascribed the king of performance college, the singled sex secondary educational institution in this study
of students when it is not. have students who were top performers in the GSAT examination
averaging 80+% compared to those in the co-educational institutional
Management in education is not an end in itself. Good school with an average of 70+%. So when the principal remarked that
management is an essential aspect of any education service, but its “… Just take a look at our internal and external results (hope I am being
central goal is the promotion of effective teaching and learning ... The modest). If a leader embraces even a significant aspect of this type of
task of management at all levels in the education service is ultimately leadership (i.e. instructional leadership), (s)he would reap benefits as
the creation and support of conditions under which teachers and their long as (s)he is cognizant of the cliché, delegate or die” a part of this
students are able to achieve learning ... The extent to which effective academic performance of the students are embodied in their aptitude
learning is achieved therefore becomes the criterion against which the than the instructional leadership [101].
quality of management is to be judged [3].
There are many schools that receive students of below average
Clearly the management of the school accounts for an aspect of academic performance and they are expect to create miracle in five
the performance of students, but we should be mindful that such years. The society expect principals of these secondary education
performance cannot be limited to good instructional leader as in this institutions, having received those at the bottom of the academic
case it is not. While this research understand Lunenburg and Ornstein’s rank on the GSAT examination, to effective compete with those
perspective that effective schools have the following characteristics; whom receive the highest GSAT scores. These institutions are told to
Safe and orderly environment; Clear school mission; Instructional employ instructional leadership to correct a problem that is endemic
leadership; A climate of high expectations; High time on task; Frequent in the educational system, and one that has perplexed educational
monitoring of students’ progress, and Positive home school relations, administrators and policy makers. While these secondary educational
many other factors such as nutrition, self-esteem, parental background, institutions endeavour to employ strategies and programme to combat
peer group and other issues are of even greater importance in academic the initial handicap, the results are usually dismally low. Instead for
performance of the sampled respondents. The statement made by a provide the necessary support programmes and mechanism, the
principal that “… Just take a look at our internal and external results teachers; students and principals are belittled by senior ministers of
(hope I am being modest). If a leader embraces even a significant government. In fact, former Minister of Education (then Minister)
aspect of this type of leadership (i.e. instructional leadership), (s) classified those institutions has ‘failing schools’ [102] and decry
he would reap benefits as long as (s)he is cognizant of the cliché, principals for the dismally low performance of students. The challenge
delegate or die”, would suggests that instructional leadership is most of many principals of these failing schools is how to modernize and
significant factor influence academic performance of students, which transform poor performing students, using low GSAT scores, to
is absolutely not the case in this study. While the school atmosphere, effectively compete with those students whom are 1) from good

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parental background (including income), 2) good support system and 19. Glickman CD, Gordon SP, Ross-Gordon JM (2007) Supervision of instruction:
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milieu, 3) proper nutrition, 4) high IQ and 5) all the social amenities
including those at their schools and when they do not match up, the 20. Jones RD (2010) Instructional leadership: Quadrant D leadership practices.
International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc, New York.
teachers and administrators are blame for the social inequalities in the
educational system [103]. Clearly, instructional leadership is unable to 21. Southworth G (2002) Instructional leadership in schools: Reflections and
empirical evidence. School Leadership Manage 22: 73-92.
correct the social inequalities in the educational system as it has little to
do with academic performance of students. The issue is do not blame 22. Bush T (2007) Educational leadership and management: Theory, policy, and
practice. South Afr J Educ 27: 391-406.
principals for an educational system that is need of overall, urgent
overhaul, modernization and social equities [103]. 23. Witziers B, Bosker RJ, Krüger ML (2003) Educational leadership and student
achievement: The elusive search for an association. EAQ 39: 398-425.
Conclusion 24. National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) (2004) Breaking
Ranks II: Strategies for leading high school reform.
In summary, instructional leadership influence academic
performance of students. The loft that is created about instructional 25. MacNeil AJ, Prater DL, Busch S (2009) The effects of school culture and
climate on student achievement. Int J Leader Educ 12: 73-84.
leadership does not hold true in this study as it has a weak positive
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ministration

Heaven and Bourne, Review Pub Administration Manag 2016, 4:3

anagem and Management

Research Article Open Access

Instructional Leadership and Its Effect on Students’ Academic

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Consequently, the National Association of Secondary School

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Senior teacher: An experienced teacher who is committed to a high

sampling design. 69.57%

and their length of service in teaching. The majority of the senior

Research question one 44.93% 43.48%

The overall academic performance of students taught by the sampled

Figure 5 presents descriptive statistics on the academic performance

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

In the qualitative data gathering (elite interviews with teachers and

Figure 4: Position and length of service.

Characteristic Mean ± SD; 95% CI

Students’ performance 72.2% ± 14.5%; 69.3% to 75.1% Instructional Leadership

20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

gathering of data and using them to feedback in the teaching-learning

Research question two

Figure 9 shows a pie-graph of participants’ views on “Does .0%

Figure 11 depicts the results of instructional leadership on length 80.0%

Of those in the co-educational school type marginally believed that

compared to 78.0% of those in the singled sex educational instrument,

Of those who are males, marginally more of them believed that

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

instructional leader, he or she would be able to marshal his/her troops

create a climate of high expectation for both staff and students,

Characteristic Mean Deviation Standard

Instructional leadership index No 34.3 7.7 64 38

Research question four

Co-Educational Singled Sex

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

Review Pub Administration Manag, an open access journal

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