The relative impact of principal instructional and transformational leadership on school culture

Purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the relative impact of principal instructional leadership and principal transformational leadership on school culture. The method of analysis was quantitative with survey data being used to determine (a) if any correlational relationships exist between the subscales and factors of instructional leadership, transformational leadership, and school culture; (b) if any linear relationships exist between the subscales and factors of principal instructional leadership and school culture; (c) if any linear relationships exist between the factors of principal transformational leadership and school culture; and (d) which subscales and factors of transformational and instructional leadership have the greatest impact on each of the factors of school culture.; Research procedures. Three survey instruments, the Staff Assessment Questionnaire, the Principal Leadership Questionnaire, and the School Culture Survey were used to collect quantitative data for analysis. A total of 1,236 teachers in 98 middle schools participating in Phase II of the National Study of Leadership in Middle Level Schools comprised the population of this study. Data from the three surveys were aggregated and analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlations and multiple regression equations to determine the relative impact of principal instructional and transformational leadership on school culture.; Findings. The results of this study explicate the relative impact of principal instructional and transformational leadership on school culture. The results suggest that a combination of principal instructional and transformational leadership behaviors impact the school culture factors of collaborative leadership, teacher collaboration, professional development, and unity of purpose. The principal instructional leadership behaviors included resource provider, instructional resource, communicator, and visible presence. The principal transformational leadership behaviors included identifying and articulating a vision, fostering the acceptance of group goals, providing individualized support, and establishing high performance expectations. Only principal transformational leadership behaviors of fostering the acceptance of group goals, providing individualized support, and establishing high expectations impact the school culture factor of collegial support. In addition, only principal transformational leadership behaviors of identifying and articulating a vision, fostering the acceptance of group goals, and maintaining high performance expectations impact the school culture factor of learning partnership. This study's findings also revealed some unexpected predictive relationships between the factors of principal instructional and transformational leadership and school culture. According to the results of this study, the principal's visible presence as well as modeling behavior on the part of the principal are negatively related to some factors of school culture when considered in concert with other factors of principal instructional and transformational leadership.