Teachers' perceptions: Differences in the principals' leadership skills in higher and lower performing high poverty South Carolina middle schools

This study was conducted to examine principals' leadership skills from the perspective of the teachers in schools with high poverty indices. The focus of this study was on four middle schools of South Carolina having poverty indices of 80% or higher. The schools were composed of six through eight grades. The two middle schools with absolute ratings of "average" and two middle schools with absolute rating of "unsatisfactory" on the 2007 South Carolina Report Card were selected. A survey Principal Instruction Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) (Hallinger, 1983) was administered to all the teachers in the four schools. They have rated their principals by completing the three subsections of the survey which include Supervise and Evaluate Instruction; Coordinate the Curriculum; and Monitor Student Progress. Statistical analysis was performed on the data. Additionally, the researcher conducted informal interviews with the principals of the schools.;The teachers of high poverty high performing schools rated their principal higher in the area of Supervise and Evaluate Instruction, Coordinate the Curriculum, and Monitor the Student Progress of PIMRS (Hallinger, 1983) than the teachers of low performing high poverty schools. The principals of the schools with absolute rating of "average" and high poverty indices exhibited stronger level of instructional leadership skills in the three subscales of PIMRS (Hallinger, 1983).