The impact of instructional leadership on school climate: A model for principal and teacher improvement
Abstract
With accountability at the center of educational reform, instructional leadership must be a major focus in the principal's role of leading a school. The purpose of this study was to develop a model of instructional leadership to build capacity in existing principals. This study was conducted in the Franklin County School System in Franklin County, Tennessee. Three elementary schools served as the control group, and three middle schools served as the experimental group. The intervention consisted of the principals of schools in the experimental group receiving training in instructional leadership and clinical supervision techniques, participating in book readings and discussions, and implementing clinical supervision techniques within the school. The study examined the impact of instructional leadership on the overall school climate and the six dimensions of school climate: supportive principal behavior, directive principal behavior, restrictive principal behavior, collegial teacher behavior, committed/intimate teacher behavior, and disengaged teacher behavior. The study also examined the effect the intervention had on the number of times a principal observed a teacher for the purpose of improving instruction. This quasi-experimental research study utilized both descriptive and inferential statistics to adequately test eight hypotheses stated in the null and tested at alpha of .05. The study found that the instructional leadership training and the implementation of clinical supervision techniques did not have a statistically significant impact on school climate. However, the study found that there was a statistically significant difference in the number of teacher observations by the principal for the purpose of improving instruction for those principals who had the instructional leadership training and implemented clinical supervision techniques and those who did not have the training and did not implement clinical supervision. Furthermore, the study also found there was a significant difference in the number of teacher observations by the principal as reported by the teacher before and after the principal participated in the instructional leadership training and implemented clinical supervision techniques. Effective schools have leaders who maintain and support an academic emphasis. In order to maintain an academic emphasis with a focus on instruction, it is essential that principals be visible in classrooms. This study has proven that principal visibility does increase with appropriate training.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
Tammy Grizzard,
"The impact of instructional leadership on school climate: A model for principal and teacher improvement"
(2007).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3277896.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3277896