THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND

INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING ON ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL
STUDENTS’ IN PHYSICS.

BY
OPUTA JOY NGOZI
NTI/PGDE/2014/3321
 CHAPTER 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In the secondary school system, the principal is the head of the school and from his desk
orders are taken for thorough running of the school. The principals play a wide variety of roles in
a school, not the least of which is the creation of academically supportive environments for both
students and teachers. Leithwood, et al. (2008) find that while teachers have the most influence
on student performance, principals are essential for setting the tone of the learning community
and modeling good teaching practice. The leadership role of the principal is crucial to promoting
and supporting teachers’ achievements, creating a positive work environment for teachers, and
improving staff morale, which also creates the right learning environment for students
(Leithwood, et al., 2008; Firestone et al., 2001). Principal accountability, such as principals’
ability to take responsibility for student achievement, is often an indicator of the quality of a
particular school’s educational practices in general (Vanderhaar, et al., 2006; Firestone et al.,
2001; Quinn, 2002). Because principals are educational leaders among their teachers, an
effective principal can shape the outcomes of a school’s performance on test scores by
supporting creative and effective teaching (Firestone, et al. 2001).
As part of holding schools accountable for student achievement, teachers are required to
become “highly-qualified” in the subject area they teach. Very few qualifications are placed on
administrators to be “highly-qualified” in maintaining the success of the educational system. For
example, under Governor John Engler’s administration in the 1990’s, in Michigan, qualifications
for superintendents to have a background in education were not necessary, the underlying idea
was that business leaders could lead schools and help maintain high student achievement.
Much of the current literature studying school leadership posits that leadership has a
minimal direct impact on student achievement (Ross & Gray, 2006). Kruger, Witziers and
Sleegers (2007), postulated that leadership is no longer proposed as having a direct influence on
academic outcomes, but indirectly influences instructional organization and culture. It is
important to research the extent to which school leaders and leadership styles impact student
success. The literature review will integrate current data on the direct effects of school leadership
on student success and some indirect effects school leaders might have on student achievement.
A variety of leadership styles will also be researched to see if a specific leadership style is
associated more positively with greater student achievement.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In secondary schools in Nigeria, school administrators are called principals. Principals are seen
to be responsible for three „Ps‟ in the school – the people, the programme, and the plant. They
function as managers and instructional leaders. They have the primary responsibility of
accomplishing the nation’s aims and objectives of secondary school education as stipulated in
the National Policy on Education (NPE). In doing this, they play a number of important roles
among which is providing effective leadership in secondary schools, aimed at enhancing better
job performance of staff and in essence promoting students’ academic achievements in schools.
Moorthy (1992) separates managerial functions into planning, organizing, controlling and
motivating while instructional leadership functions involve all the beliefs, decisions, strategies,
and tactics that principals use to generate instructional effectiveness in the classroom. These
roles are not isolated entities; they go together, because principals cannot be effective
instructional leaders if they are not good managers. Successful school leaders influence student
achievement in several important ways, through their influence on other people in their
organizations which strongly affects student learning (Townsend, 1994; Haughey and
MacEiwain, 1992; Mendez-Morse, 1991).
This study will be considering how the instructional planning and leadership has affected the
students’ academic performances in Physics amongst the secondary school students. My research
will concentrate on students within a randomly selected schools in Ifako Ijaye local Government
area of Lagos state.
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

A growing body of evidence underscores a significant and positive relationship between

effective principal leadership and student learning and achievement. Recent research includes
qualitative case studies of highly challenged, high-performing schools (Charles A. Dana Center,
1999; Johnson, Lein, & Ragland, 1998; Maden, 2001; Scheurich, 1998) and quantitative studies
examining indirect leadership effects on student outcomes (Hallinger, Bickman, & Davis, 1996;
Heck, 1992, 2000; Heck, Larsen, & Marcoulides, 1990; Leithwood & Jantzi, 1999; Marks &
Printy, 2003). In fact, an extensive review of evidence related to the nature and size of these
effects concluded that, among school-related factors, leadership is second only to classroom
instruction in its contribution to student learning (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom,
2004). Further, these effects are greatest within contexts where they are most needed, that is, “the
greater the challenge the greater the impact of [leader] actions on learning” (Leithwood et al.,
2004, p. 3).
Across the research, scholars organize these leader actions in similar fashion, observing that
successful leadership relies upon a set of core practices which, when applied in combination,
result in improved learning results for students. Thus, effective leaders work to develop a shared
vision of the future, building consensus for relevant short-term goals. They offer intellectual
support and stimulation, providing models of exemplary practice and modeling important values
and beliefs. They create productive learning cultures, transforming systems and structures that
impede improvement efforts (Leithwood et al., 2004). More recently, scholars reintroduced a
fourth domain, managing organizations, as an essential component of successful school
leadership (Leithwood & Riehl, 2005). The primacy of these core functions was further
substantiated through an in-depth investigation of 63 successful principal leadership cases across
seven countries (Leithwood, 2005).
The knowledge that some school leaders improve learning conditions as they influence
organizational aims, actors, and arrangements, and manage the daily routines of the school,
underscores the importance of leaders gaining comprehensive understanding of these core
practices and related competencies. In particular, school leaders appear to have the greatest
influence on student outcomes when their efforts are instructionally focused (Robinson, Lloyd, &
Rowe, 2008). Recently, Robinson, Lloyd, and Rowe (2008) analyzed 27 published studies of the
relationship between leadership and student outcomes, comparing the effects of the two
dominant leadership theories studied across the research, transformational and instructional
leadership. Findings demonstrated that instructional leadership was three to four times more
likely to impact student outcomes, in that such leadership “emphasiz[es] the technical core of
instruction, curriculum, and assessment, provides direction, and effects the day-to-day activities
of teachers and students in schools” (Marks & Printy, 2003, p. 377). This review of literature
now turns to a discussion of instructional leadership as a vehicle for influencing instruction, the
primary determinant of student performance (Elmore, 2000).
This study is undergone to ascertain the effect of school leadership and instructional planning on
students’ performances in physics as a concentrating subject in secondary schools,the research
will also look into the leadership styles amongst principal cadres and examine which is most
preferred in the school system to aid optimal students’ performances.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions will be answered as to improve on duration and productivity with the
research on leadership and instructional planning on student’s performances
I. What are the leadership styles available for effective school planning?
II. To what extent does school leaders/principal assist their students; in academic
performance?
III. Which of the school hierarchy leaders have direct impact of students’ performances?
1.5 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
Aims
The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of school leadership and instructional
planning on academic performances in secondary school in Physics this is in view to
create appropriate learning platform for students overall development in the subject.
Objectives
The objectives of the research are;
i To identify the leadership styles most appropriate for effective school planning
ii To analyze to which extent the leadership style and effective planning will help
improve student’s performance
iii To ascertain which member of school staff have a direct play to improves
students’ performances

1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Ho1: There is no significant difference between school leadership style and planning on
students’ performances in physics in the secondary schools
Ho2: There is no significant difference between the part played by the school principals
and the subject teachers.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is expected to examine the effect of school leadership and instructional
planning on academic performances of students in the physics subject. In course of the
study,I will be considering a look at some selected schools in Ifako Ijaiye metropolies
and concentratively on science students who undergoes the subject Physics.this in reason
will provide me an overall view of the students’ performances and how it has relates with
the proper school planning structures.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
 School ; This is an educational institute of an organize units, set-up to educate,
teach or train to improve one’s overall perception and abilities.
 Leadership ; This is defined as a capacity in which one occupies to lead a team
 Planning ; This is an act of drawing up actions or organizing a propose plan or
act
 Academic performance; This can be in the positive(success) or negative
(failure).It is the ends of a well-structured/poorly structured academic institute
 CHAPTER 3
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the general outline or procedure for conducting the research of the
study. It will discuss the research design, the population of the study will be considered, area of
study, sampling technique and procedures, method of data collection, instrument of data and
method in analyzing data.

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The survey or descriptive research method will be adopted for this research work.It will be used
to collect related data research the work.