Principal leadership responsibilities and teacher efficacy in low-performing middle schools and high-performing middle schools

The primary goal of America's public school principals has been identified as increasing student academic achievement (Leithwood, Seashore Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004). Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005) identified 21 principal leadership responsibilities that demonstrated a positive correlation with student academic achievement. Geijsel, Sleegers, Leithwood, and Jantzi (2003) argued that the leadership behaviors of principals have the potential to influence the attitudes and perceptions of employees and the overall performance and effectiveness of a school. Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001) maintained that one dynamic in the school setting that encompasses employee attitudes and perceptions is teacher efficacy, which they defined as teachers' judgment in regards to their skill at facilitating the achievement of student learning goals, even when students might not value learning or the other important functions of the school. Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001) defined three teacher efficacy factors that describe the main components of teacher efficacy and created an instrument that measured the three factors; the authors also measured for overall teacher efficacy.;This research study was conducted at the middle school level. Middle school students typically undergo six major developmental changes, marking these middle years as a tumultuous period of time for students (Association for Middle Level Education, 2016). Research has revealed that differences exist between low-performing schools and high-performing schools in terms of how teachers rate their own efficacy and the leadership of their principals (Brown, Anfara, & Roney, 2004; Richardson, 2014). The goal of this research study will be to explore the nature of the relationships between Marzano, Waters, and McNulty's (2005) 21 principal leadership responsibilities and Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's (2001) three teacher efficacy factors, and overall teacher efficacy, in low-performing middle schools and high-performing middle schools.;Findings from this study revealed statistically significant differences in the means between low-performing middle schools and high-performing middle schools. Findings also revealed strong, positive correlations between Marzano et al.'s (2005) 21 principal leadership responsibilities and Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's (2001) three factors of teacher efficacy and overall teacher efficacy.;Keywords: principal leadership responsibilities, teacher efficacy factors, student academic achievement.