Education in Lesotho was not available to all children until the year 2000 with the introduction of the Free Primary Education policy. Since then, the huge rise in enrolments, the abolition of school fees, the effects of new policies and the problems of HIV/AIDS have expanded the demands on the principal while limited human and financial resources threaten the quality of education. This study investigates the role of two principals in the Botha Bothe district in the leadership and management of teaching and learning as well as the strategies they employ to overcome the difficulties. Special attention is given to distributed leadership so that accountable, effective and efficient leadership and management can take place. Qualitative methodology has been used through instruments such as questionnaires, followup interviews and observations to obtain data from the principals at the schools, one deputy principal and three to four teachers each. The findings indicate that the perceived main role of the principal at both these schools is managing and leading teaching and learning to the required standard. In both schools, it has been found that principals share their complex managerial duties with teachers and deputy principals, that most teachers willingly give of their time to contribute to the success of the school in this way and understand the need for doing so. By incorporating and respecting teachers’ contributions to leadership, the study shows how both principals cope with their particular leadership challenges. While the strategies used can serve as a guide to others within similar contexts, the researcher suggests that the education authorities in Lesotho need to be more aware of the problems facing schools, should make sufficient human and physical resources available to help principals manage the schools properly, and provide for AIDS orphans adequately. In addition, support for quality education in the form of ongoing professional development for both principals and teachers is needed, and more research needs to be conducted related to education issues in Lesotho.

Thesis advisor: Laura M. O'Dwyer / This mixed-methods study analyses data from interviews with 29 principals in four school districts, to describe patterns in the principals’ values concerning high-quality mathematics instruction and in the aspects of instruction they noticed when observing short videos of elementary school mathematics classes. Principals valued many aspects of instruction, including elements of general pedagogy, teachers interacting with content and students, content-related pedagogy, students interacting with content, and evidence of student outcomes. As a group, principals noticed the same types of instructional elements that they valued, as well as other, less-commonly-valued elements. Hierarchical linear models were used to compare ratings given to teachers by their principals on three aspects of instructional effectiveness, to scores from video- and student-test-score-based measures of corresponding constructs. Mathematical Quality of Instruction, Classroom Assessment System™ and value-added scores each accounted for unique portions of variance in teachers’ scores on a composite principal rating scale, showing that the underlying “high-quality mathematics” construct measured by principals had some elements in common with each of the other three constructs. However, substantial variance remained unaccounted for, suggesting that principals’ concept of high-quality mathematics also comprises elements not measured by any of the other three instruments. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / This qualitative case study examined the influence of the processes of supervision and evaluation on the job satisfaction of novice teachers in one suburban Massachusetts school district. The conceptual framework guiding this research was the “Three Factor Theory” developed by Dinham and Scott (1998) which emphasizes the role of school-based factors on job satisfaction. The data collection included interviews with novice teachers, school leaders and central office leaders. A document review was also conducted. The results of this study found that supervision and feedback that was specific and timely, provided from a coaching standpoint was perceived to be an important factor influencing job satisfaction. Building leaders felt that evaluation, through the self-reflection and goal setting process, also positively contributed to the job satisfaction of novice teachers, however, novice teachers did not confirm this finding. Recommendations include additional professional development for both building leaders and novice teachers that focuses on the use of supervision and feedback to inform the evaluation process, including the self-reflection and goal setting stages. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The purpose of this study was to learn about how elementary principals conceptualized instructional leadership and whether the way they thought about leadership influenced their allotted use of time for instructional leadership. In order to answer this question, two sub-questions needed to be answered about how elementary principals conceptualized instructional leadership and how elementary principals perceived they used their time. This mixed-method study interviewed 30 principals in an urban-suburban school district in Utah to produce data. Each principal participated in a newly constructed survey of 84 questions. The survey consisted of four parts including demographics, open-ended questions about instructional leadership, and paper and pencil questions about both instructional leadership and how the principal thought they spent their time. The findings of the study showed that the principals recognized and agreed with a broad definition of instructional leadership when prompted, but they were only able to articulate a limited definition made up of between three and ten sub-concepts. Every principal's self constructed combination of the sub-concepts differed. However, when the principal's conceptualization of instructional leadership was translated into the time they spent on each task associated with that conceptualization, 68% of the responses fell into those tasks associated with the narrow definition of instructional leadership, however only 60% of their time was used for tasks associated with the narrow definition of instructional leadership. (The principals conformed their instructional leadership time to their self constructed conceptualization from 10.7% to 100% of their time.) Principals committed between 7.0-38% of their total time to instructional leadership, but the average amount of time spent on instructional leadership was 20% of their total time. Principals who had more time tasks associated with the narrow definition of instructional leadership committed more of their total time to instructional leadership. The principals who indicated that coaching, mentoring, and collaboration as the most important activities of instructional leadership spent more time doing these instructional leadership tasks than principals who said other activities were most important. The task most often associated with instructional leadership when principals self constructed their responses was "being in classrooms and evaluating teachers."

Background: Science poses a unique challenge to the elementary curriculum landscape, because traditionally elementary teachers report low levels of self-efficacy in this subject. Instructional leadership in elementary science therefore, becomes important for a successful integration of a new science education agenda. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science content standards available for adoption by states and school districts in the U.S. Principals are important actors during policy implementation since they are charged with assuming the role of an instructional leader for their teachers in all subject areas. Purpose: This study gathered self-reported survey data from public elementary principals that pertain to their background and experiences in science, and then relate these data to their levels of self-efficacy and instructional leadership capacity for science. The study answers the following three research questions: (1) What type of science backgrounds do elementary principals have? (2) What indicators predict if elementary principals will engage in instructional leadership behaviors in science? (3) Does self-efficacy mediate the relationship between science background and capacity for instructional leadership in science? Data Collection and Analysis: A questionnaire was created by combining two existing subscales to measure instructional leadership practices and self-efficacy in science, and also a series of objective questions to address principals’ background experiences and demographic information. Public school elementary principals serving in 13 states that formally adopted the NGSS through legislative action provided the data analyzed in this study (N = 667). The survey data were analyzed quantitatively for descriptive statistics to answer the first research question, inferential statistics through an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) hierarchal regression analysis to answer the second, and a mediation analysis to answer the third research question. Findings: The sample data show that 21% of the elementary principals have a formal science degree and 26% have a degree in a STEM field. Most principals have not had recent experience teaching science (75.86%), nor were they every strictly a science teacher (86.66%). The hierarchical regression analysis suggests that there is evidence that both demographic and experiential variables predict instructional leadership practices in science. The analysis also suggests that self-efficacy is a mediating variable for principals’ science teaching experiences related to instructional leadership behaviors. Conclusions: The data from this research reveal potential (a) leadership development opportunities, (b) training and recruitment needs of school districts, (c) areas in need of attention in principal preparation programs, and (d) directions for policy implementation to leverage principal capacity. The findings provide evidence to assist in identifying ways elementary principals could be better prepared to be instructional leaders for their teachers, especially in those settings where the implementation of the NGSS is underway.

The focus of this study was to examine perceptions of middle school teachers regarding the changing role of the secondary middle school principal and compare teachers' results with assistant principals' and principals' perceptions of their role, thus adding the voice of teachers, regarding the secondary principal's role, to existing literature. Data was collected electronically using the survey method in one urban Florida school district. Qualitative and quantitative data were captured using the Principal's Role Questionnaire (PRQ) (Goodwin, 2002). Thirty-six principal role descriptor statements on the PRQ survey requested a level of agreement from research participants regarding changes, current and future roles of the secondary principal. Four open ended comment requests allowed participants to comment on the principal's role in those areas. Role descriptor statements were categorized into four areas: strategic leadership, instructional leadership, organizational leadership and political and community leadership. Quantitative findings revealed that teacher perceptions regarding the secondary middle school principal's role were significantly significant for only 14 of the 36 role descriptors when compared to principals' scores. Teachers' mean score ratings were lower than principals' for all 36 PRQ items, however their scores were considered in agreement, as no score was lower than 2.52. Lower score ratings for all 36 PRQ items suggested somewhat of a disconnection between principals and teachers as to the principal's role. Qualitative findings from teachers varied from an understanding of the principal's role to suggestions for the principal. Further research is needed to determine secondary principal role expectations that are important and desired by secondary teachers.

The concept of instructional leadership has become a growing interest in the discourse on school leadership. Effective schools studies in the 1970s and early 1980s found that principals who were strong instructional leaders significantly influenced school performance. While this thesis predominately focuses on the relationship between principal, school curriculum officer (hence forth as SCO) and teacher, it focuses heavily on the role of the principalship in fostering the growing emphasis on multiple leadership approaches throughout the school. The specific purpose of this study is to explore how teacher leadership and the principalship nurture student learning. It highlights the professional culture which principals nurture to engage teachers in school improvement issues. The notion of teacher leadership potentially empowers teachers to exercise professional responsibility for student learning and promotes a focus on teacher professionalism. The literature illuminated several key themes, which formed the conceptual framework underpinning the research. These included school improvement, encouragement of learning communities, teacher commitment and motivation, changing roles of principals and promotion of teacher leadership. Given the purpose of this study it seemed fitting that the approach of the study should be predominantly interpretive and orchestrated through multiple site case study. The research results confirmed the findings of the literature in terms of leadership. The response of schools to improve student learning was strongly influenced by the principal and SCO who were able to articulate school vision and engage staff in meaningful whole school decision-making practices. This study concluded that the support of the principal for the role of the SCO was a major determiner of the SCO’s success in implementing school-wide pedagogical reform. The findings also affirmed the role of principals as being able to influence student learning through their interactions with class teachers. Furthermore it is essential such interactions are school wide, agreed upon and implemented via a close working relationship with the principal and the SCO. The findings also highlight that specific work conditions had an influence on the motivation and commitment of teachers to ongoing school reform.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001increases school accountability and requires educators to improve student academic outcomes using evidence-based practice. One factor that contributes to desirable school outcomes is principals' instructional leadership behaviors. Principals who allocate more time to instructional leadership behaviors are more likely to have a positive impact on student learning. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a time management intervention on instructional leadership behaviors of school principals. Based on my literature review, I found that several time management techniques may help leaders manage their time effectively, including delegating, scheduling, prioritizing, planning, setting goals, saying no, and handling interruptions. In this training, I taught three principals how to increase their time allocated to instructional leadership behaviors using these techniques. I measured the proportion of time the participants allocated to the instructional leadership behaviors during the baseline and intervention. In the context of a multiprobe multiple-baseline across participants design, I found that all three participants increased their time allocated to the instructional leadership behaviors after the training. This study experimentally validated a training program that may contribute to the positive school outcomes.

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The findings of this study serve as an exploratory case-study examining the conditions of professional learning for in-service principals in one north Texas suburban district with changing student demographics. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of a variety of data collected sought to reveal how professional development of principals increased a principal's contingent leadership skills to positively affect student achievement through school improvement efforts. Perceptions were examined from the sample of seven executive directors at the district level; six campus principals (two elementary, two middle, and two high school); and eight teachers selected from among four of the six campuses whose principal participated in a semi-structured interview. Additionally, responses from a principal survey were examined. Findings were organized around three themes that surfaced from the deductive and inductive analysis of data collected in response to the three research questions. The themes were: instructional leadership and other principal responsibilities, principal professional development and components of professional learning, and measuring the effectiveness of principal professional learning. Findings revealed that there are many offerings of professional development opportunities available to principals in Learning ISD. The components essential in effective principal professional learning opportunities in the studied district consisted of embedding social capital, professional capital, and decisional capital to develop contingency leadership skills. Measuring the effectiveness of principal professional learning remains an area of growth for the district studied as well as the adherence to a meaningful principal evaluation system that can properly quantify and qualify a campus administrator's effect on school improvement and student learning.