Influence of Principal Leadership Style on School Culture, Instruction and Achievement

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background of the Study4

Statement of Problem7

Purpose of the Study7

Educational Institutions9

Cultural Values for Leadership10

Public School11

School Principals12

School Leaders13

Limited Native Leadership in Schools13

Impact of No Child Left behind Act on Indigenous Children14

Key Systemic Issues Relevant to Self-Determination15

Community-Based Leadership in Public Schools15

Models of Leadership16

Instructional leadership16

Transformational leadership17

Contributions of theory to the field18

Characteristics of Transformational Leadership20

Situational and Contingency theory20

Research Questions21

Limitations21

Delimitations22

Definition of Terms22

Leadership Style22

Principal23

School Culture23

Student Achievement23

Criterion Reference Competency Test23

Significance of the Study24

Overview/summary25

References26

Effective Educational Leadership

Background of the Study

The effectiveness of the school principal is an imperative aspect that can affect the culture of school, medium of instruction and the student achievement. The school culture, medium of instruction and the student's achievement are the important perspectives that need to be taken care of in order to have strong educational background. The presence of leadership qualities within the individuals is a blessing that makes them to achieve certain objectives very easily. The principals are responsible for the effective management of their schools and therefore needs to possess certain leadership qualities in them. The effective management of their schools is only possible through the strong control on their medium of instruction that would ultimately affect the school culture and thus the student achievement.

In the past literature, links have been developed between the culture and leadership styles possessed by the leaders. The literature discusses the importance of the leadership styles, culture and effectiveness for the development of the organizations like School. The practice and theory related to the explanation of the relationships regarding the effectiveness, culture and leadership along with the usage of the culture as an intermediary factor has been proved to be very useful. Moreover, in the past literature, relationship between the leadership style of principal and student's achievement have also proved to be successful.

Educational institutions are often driven by pressure to develop new mechanisms and methods in order to upgrade services, and to achieve greater quality and standards of excellence. The purpose of education is to prepare students for the future by providing the knowledge and skills that will enable them to pursue lifelong education making them able to interact with a global world that is constantly changing.

One of the most important qualities in principals is considered to be that of the leadership style that affects the culture of school, instruction and students achievement. To fulfill the requirement of the ideal learning environment within the schools, it is important that the school principals possess each of the qualities within them. Moreover, it is also important to student's achievement,

Consequently, schools must be able to provide valuable human resource services through collaboration between the school and community. School leaders are critical in bringing effective school reform. Elmore (2000) argue that school leaders' responsibilities have increased in the last 50 years, shifting from an emphasis on management to a focus on leadership. Numerous research studies have emphasized that school principals have become integral in improving school learning, finding a strong correlation between effective school practices and creative ...