Instructional leadership is essential for the academic success of any schooling situation. Given this background, the researcher set out to investigate how instructional leadership is practiced and also could be improved in the Southern nations, nationalities and people’s region of Ethiopia; to this end, the researcher used a case study of four secondary schools. The main research question that framed the study was: How do principals practice effective instructional leadership role in secondary schools? A qualitative research method formed the basis of this study. The choice of schools for this study was deliberate, and was solely based on convenience. Participants in this study consisted of national educational experts, regional and district supervisors, as well as the principals of the selected schools from the sample areas. The following were selected from the sample areas: four school principals, six district supervisors and six regional experts. In addition, there were four experts from the Ministry of Education who also participated in the study. The analysis of the research data revealed that there is strong evidence of effective instructional leadership at the selected schools. However, despite the existence of this instructional leadership, these schools, like all other organizations, are still faced with a number of challenges that limit the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process. These challenges include lack of discipline, inadequate support, poor time management, lack of teaching and learning resources and poor training system. Participants were provided with a number of possible solutions to the problems identified. Principals were expected to be good role models in order to set examples for their staff members. An enabling environment had to be created for effective teaching and learning to take place. The researcher recommended the following new model: secondary school principals in the selected region were expected to have a vision and knowledge of instruction. In addition, they had to be committed to their work and be capable of creating a safe environment and a school culture conducive to effective teaching and learning. / Educational Management and Leadership / D. Ed. ( Educational Management)

The purpose of this mixed methods research was to investigate the transformational leadership role of principals in Ethiopian secondary schools. The research examined the existence of transformational school leadership behaviours, strategies that leaders were employing and the relationship between transformational leadership roles of the principal and student achievement (10th grade GESLCE). Mixed methods involving qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were used in order to triangulate the data and increase the validity of empirical material. The student achievement was assessed on the basis of on the percentage of passes in standardized assessments for the school year (2012/2005-2015/2007). Secondary schools in South Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State (SNNPRS) whose principals had been the incumbent for three or more years were selected purposively. A total of 80 surveys were distributed to school principals and 680 survey questionnaires to teachers in identified schools. Seventy-six school principals and 642 teachers returned the surveys representing 95% and 94.4 % return rate for principals and teachers, respectively. Interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with supervisors and teachers who worked with principals. Participants were informed of the objectives of the study and assured of the confidentiality of the research both in formal letters and in person. Factor analysis, means, standard deviations, Pearson and Spearman rho correlations, t-test and standard multiple regression were used to analyse quantitative data. In contrast, qualitative data were analyzed by grouping together common themes in each category and constructing a description of the participants’ views and perspectives. The findings revealed that transformational school leadership and its dimensions exist in secondary schools of SNNPR, Ethiopia. Among the six dimensions (namely; sharing school vision and building consensus, high performance expectation, individualized support, intellectual stimulation, modelling behaviour and building collaborative structure and strengthening school culture) three of them were ranked highly. These are, building collaborative structure, strengthening school culture and sharing school vision. On the other hand, building consensus and modelling behaviour had moderate score whereas, individualized support had relatively very low rank. Transformational leadership was accomplished through involving staff to be part of the mission, encouraging staff to come up with new initiatives, challenging the staff to meet beyond agreed standards, building trust, coach and support at individual level, sharing tasks as well as power, acting ethically and celebrating achievements to make their school effective. The relationship between transformational school leadership and student achievement showed that there is positive and moderate relationship, although it was statistically not significant. Socio-demographic data such as number of students in a school showed a negative correlation with student achievement. It is concluded that there was relationship between the principals’ transformational leadership role and student achievement in secondary school of SNNPRS of Ethiopia. Finally, the research calls for the principals to focus on more moral and material assistance to their staff’s professional growth, significant attention to the preparation and development of principals and adoption of transformational school leadership model in secondary school. The findings of the study add to limited but growing body of research on student achievement and the role of the transformational school leadership of the principal in school effectiveness. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Litt. et Phil. (Education Management)

Instructional leadership is essential for the academic success of any schooling situation. Given this background, the researcher set out to investigate how instructional leadership is practiced and also could be improved in the Southern nations, nationalities and people’s region of Ethiopia; to this end, the researcher used a case study of four secondary schools. The main research question that framed the study was: How do principals practice effective instructional leadership role in secondary schools? A qualitative research method formed the basis of this study. The choice of schools for this study was deliberate, and was solely based on convenience. Participants in this study consisted of national educational experts, regional and district supervisors, as well as the principals of the selected schools from the sample areas. The following were selected from the sample areas: four school principals, six district supervisors and six regional experts. In addition, there were four experts from the Ministry of Education who also participated in the study. The analysis of the research data revealed that there is strong evidence of effective instructional leadership at the selected schools. However, despite the existence of this instructional leadership, these schools, like all other organizations, are still faced with a number of challenges that limit the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process. These challenges include lack of discipline, inadequate support, poor time management, lack of teaching and learning resources and poor training system. Participants were provided with a number of possible solutions to the problems identified. Principals were expected to be good role models in order to set examples for their staff members. An enabling environment had to be created for effective teaching and learning to take place. The researcher recommended the following new model: secondary school principals in the selected region were expected to have a vision and knowledge of instruction. In addition, they had to be committed to their work and be capable of creating a safe environment and a school culture conducive to effective teaching and learning. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. ( Educational Management)