Critical factors explaining the leadership performance of high-performing principals

Abstract

The study explored critical factors that explain leadership performance of high-performing principals and examined the relationship between these factors based on the ratings of school constituents in the public school system. The principal component analysis with the use of Varimax Rotation revealed that four components explain 51.1% of the variance in the correlation matrix. Correlations among the four components range from strong to moderate with the relationship between components 1 and 22 (personal philosophy and abilities and leadership) demonstrating the only strong, positive correlation within the matrix. This study showed that two of the dimensions identified were in keeping with the leadership-related categories of personal philosophy and abilities (combined), and leadership itself obtained from the qualitative study. The strength of the relationship suggests that personal philosophy, personal abilities and leadership are interrelated and must be integrated for greatest performance effect. The findings should have practical benefits for principals, especially in the areas of training, education and development; performance evaluation; and recruitment. Further research on a regional basis would assist in determining if leadership practices are consistent across the territories, bearing in mind the contextual basis which obtains and the differences and similarities in how public schools are led.