Instructional Leadership Skills of School Heads as Correlates to Schools’ Achievement Test Results: Basis for Leadership Skills Enhancement Program

Abstract

This quantitative correlational study investigated the instructional leadership skills of 39 school heads and their relationship to the achievement test results of pupils in Central Philippine Union Conference (CPUC, now East Central Philippine Union Conference, ECPUC, and West Central Philippine Union Mission, WCPUM) Adventist elementary schools. The respondents were predominantly female (69.2%) and served schools ranging from 50 to over 300 students, with most school heads having 11–15 years of total experience (30.8%) and 2–5 years at their current school (41.0%). Data were collected using a validated 50-item Instructional Leadership Skills Questionnaire (ILSQ) distributed via Google Forms, while pupils' achievement data were sourced from the CPUC Education Department. Instructional leadership skills were rated as very true overall (M = 4.61, SD = 0.30), with the highest dimension being Interpersonal Relations (M = 4.84, SD = 0.22) and the lowest being Instructional Supervision (M = 4.46, SD = 0.46). CPUC achievement test results averaged 79.23 (SD=2.709), classified as mastery. When grouped by profile characteristics, leadership skills remained very true across gender, school size, and years of experience. At the same time, pupil achievement was slightly higher in larger schools and schools led by school heads with 16–20 years of experience. Spearman’s Rho result showed a weak correlation, revealing no significant relationships between instructional leadership skills, either overall or by dimension, and pupil achievement (p>0.05). These findings suggest that while school heads possess strong leadership skills, translating these into improved student outcomes requires targeted support. Consequently, a six-week Leadership Enhancement Program was developed to strengthen instructional supervision, decision-making, interpersonal relations, and communication skills through workshops, peer coaching, and the implementation of action plans.