PRINCIPALS’ INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTH RIFT REGION, KENYA

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The study sought to establish the relationship between the Principals’ instructional leadership skills and institutional performance in public secondary schools in the South Rift region, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive cross sectional survey research design and correlational research design. Multistage sampling was used to select 166 Principals, 166 Senior teachers and 4 County Quality Assurance and Standards Officers. Questionnaires and interview guide were used to collect data from sampled respondents. Data was collected from 163 Principals, 164 Senior Teachers and 4 CQASOs, giving the study a return rate of 98.51%. Qualitative data obtained was analyzed thematically while quantitative data was cleaned, coded and analyzed descriptively and inferentially with the aid of the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27.0 computer software. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the existing relationship between the variables while hypothesis was tested using regression analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The study established that there is a positive and significant relationship between Principals’ instructional leadership skills and institutional performance. It also established that majority of Principals lacked requisite skills in monitoring and evaluation framework and practice. It therefore recommended that institutions such as Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI) which is charged with the responsibility of capacity building education managers of learning institutions should restructure their training curriculum to ensure a more concerted effort on instructional leadership.