| School leadership requires the collaborative efforts of principals, teachers, parents, students, and other community members to achieve academic success. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the influence of school leadership practices on classroom management, school environment, and academic underperformance in Jamaica. The research was based upon distributive leadership theory. The School Leadership, Environment, Classroom Management Assessment Questionnaire (SLECMAQ) was developed for this study and was used to collect the data. Prior to data collection, a pilot study was conducted with 12 experts to evaluate the reliability and validity of the SLECMAQ. A total of 148 complete responses were collected from principals, vice principals, grade coordinators, classroom teachers, special education teachers, and others. Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regressions were used to determine possible correlations between the influence of school leadership practices on classroom management, school environment, and academic underperformance. The results indicated significant, positive relationships between the independent variable perceived school leadership practices of principals and teachers and the dependent variables perceived classroom management and perceived academic performance. A significant, positive relationship was also found between perceived school leadership practices and perceived school environment. The findings will contribute to a positive social change by supporting policies to implement leadership frameworks at underperforming primary schools and thus improving the quality of education in Jamaica. |
