| Ensuring student learning and success is the primary goal of any school administrator, so their leadership must embody and champion this. Therefore, strong instructional leadership skills are necessary for administrators to possess and be able to apply. However, teachers often have negative perceptions of instructional leadership which make the processes, initiatives, and changes that need to take place to realize school goals more difficult to achieve. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to explore middle school instructional leadership. There were two research questions being asked; 'What perceptions of instructional leadership do middle school teachers possess?' and 'Why do some middle school teachers have negative perceptions of their administrators as instructional leaders?';Fifty-nine middle school teachers from one large urban county in North Carolina participated in a two-part multiple choice survey to ascertain their perceptions of instructional leadership and their administrators as instructional leaders. Then three of those teachers agreed to participate in a thirteen question interview to gain some insight into why those perceptions, either positive or negative, persist.;Study findings revealed that the participants were divided regarding their perceptions of their administrators as instructional leaders and have varied perceptions of instructional leadership. Some of the results replicated those from other studies, but new insights were revealed as well.;Close analysis of the data revealed several key influences on middle school teachers' perceptions of instructional leadership such as age and number of years teaching, number of years at the current school, and perceptions about the administrator's competence as a teacher and with the curriculum. Some other influences on negative perceptions of instructional leadership are how frequently the administrator communicates with the staff, how feedback and the evaluation process is handled, and whether or not the administrator makes the staff feel valued and involved in school wide decisions.;Recommendations are given to assist principals and assistant principals with strengthening their instructional leadership skills, facilitating meaningful changes and initiatives in their schools that will lead to increased student achievement, and taking actions which will be perceived positively by teachers and cause them to have more constructive perceptions of instructional leadership. |
