INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP PRACTICE

OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

IN JABI TEHNAN WOREDA

OF WEST GOJJAM ZONE

(TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION)

BYMESSELE BEZA AYELE

EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY

JUNE 2012

INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP PRACTICE

OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS

IN JABI TEHNAN WOREDA

OF WEST GOJJAM ZONE

(TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION)

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Art in Educational Planning and Management

BYMESSELE BEZA AYELE

AdvisorATO TEMESGEN MELAKU

Educational Planning and Management Department

Faculty of Education and Behavioral Science

Bahir Dar University

JUNE 2012BAHIR DAR

The thesis titled “An Assessment on Instructional Leadership Practice and Challenges of

Primary School Principals in Jabi Tehnan Woreda of West Gojjam Zone” by Messele

Beza is approved for the degree of Master of Arts in Educational Planning and

Management.

Board of Examiners

Name Signature

Advisor: Ato Temesgen Melaku _____________________

Internal Examiner: Ato Adane Tesera _____________________

External Examiner: Dr. Amare _____________________

Date: _______________ _____________

ACKNOWLADGMENTS

The completion of this thesis has been a journey of personal improvement that could not

occur without the support and assistance of my advisor. Hence, I utmost would like to

extend my sincerest admiration and gratitude to Ato Temesgen Melaku. I am extremely

providential and blessed to have you, in my corner. I heartily thank you, for your

professionalism, tolerance, and capability to guide me right.

I also would like to respect and thank, the three years old child of mine, Mikiyas Messele,

who was accustomed to stop playing at night for the sake of this work and surprisingly

offering me an encouraging word “AIZOH”.

In addition to this, I want to pass my warm gratitude to my cohere friends and colleagues

who provided me valuable advice and necessary materials throughout the completion of

this research.

Finally yet importantly, I thank my staff members, especially Esubalew Aynetaw and

Haymanot Yitayih for their credible support in typing both the draft and final work of this

thesis.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents Page Acknowledgements IV Table of Contents V

List of Tables VI

Acronyms VII

Abstract VIII CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 4 1.3 Objectives of the Study 61.4 Significance of the Study 61.5 Delimitation of the Study 71.6 Limitation of the Study 71.7 Definition of Key Term 8 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Concept of Educational Leadership 92.2 Development in Instructional Leadership 102.3 Conceptual Frame Work of Instructional Leadership 11 2.3.1 Defining School Mission 11 2.3.2 Managing Instructional Program 122.3.3 Creating Positive School Learning Climate 182.4 Factors Affecting Instructional Leadership Practice 222.4.1 Personal Factors 222.4.2 Institutional Factors 242.4.3 Environmental Factors 25

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY OF THE RESERCH3.1 Design of the Study 303.2 Population, Sample and Sampling Techniques 303.3 Data Collection Instrument 313.3.1 Pilot Study 323.4 Procedure of Data Collection 333.5 Data Analysis 33 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSION

4.1.1 Characteristics of Respondents 354.1.2 Level of Instructional Leadership Practice 364.1.3 Comparison with Respect to Principals’ level of Education 43 4.1.4 Comparison with Respect to Principals’ Years of Service 46 4.1.5 Factors Affecting Instructional Leaders 47 4.2 Discussion 54 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 Summary 605.2 Conclusion 635.3 Recommendation 64REFFERENCES 68 Appendices-A Appendices–B Appendices-C Appendices–D Appendices–E Appendices--F

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1: Respondents’ Demography 35

Table 2: One Sample T-test for Defining School Mission 37

Table 3: One Sample T-test for Managing Instructional Program 39

Table 4: One Sample T-test for Creating Positive School Climate 41

Table 5: Independent T-test for comparison with Respect to Level of Education 44

Table 6: Comparisons for Instructional Leadership Practice with Respect to

Years of Service 46

Table 7: One Sample T-test for Personal Factors 48

Table 8: One Sample T-test for Organizational Factors 50

Table 9: One Sample T-test for Environmental Factors 52

Table 10: One Sample T-test for Summary of Factors 53

ACRONYMES /ABRIVATIONS/

TQM: Total Quality Management

MoE: Ministry of Education

ESDP, I- IV: Education Sector Development Program, 1- 4

SIP: School Improvement Program

AREB: Amharic Region Education Bureau

ETP: Education Training Policy

USAID: United States of America International Development

AED: Academic for Educational Development

GEQUIP: General Education Quality Improvement Program

PIMRS: Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale

LLBWA: Leading and Learning by Wondering Around

JRM: Joint Review Mission

KETB: Kebele Education and Training Board

PTA: Parent and Teachers Association

CPD: Continues Professional Development

ABSTRACT

This study sought to explore instructional leadership practice adopted by primary school principals, as conceptualized by Hallinger and Murphy theory of instructional leadership (1985 and 2008). It was carried out in primary schools of Jabi-Tehnan woreda of West Gojjam zone. The study, based on teachers’ perception, focused on investigating the extent of instructional leadership practice by principals as well as exploring the challenges that principals face while practicing the leadership. Comparison also made to detect if there was significance difference among principals with respect to demographic variables. This research is a descriptive research which was conducted typically based on quantitative data analysis approach. Stratified sampling technique with disproportional allocation of schools was employed. The study was carried out on a population of 1013 teachers with a sample consisted of 152 teachers taken from 13 schools led by degree holder principals (n=79) and 14 schools led by diploma holder principals (n=73). For data collection Hallinger and Murphy Instructional Leadership rating scale (PIMRS) and self prepared questionnaire for the challenges were administered. Moreover, interview and document check up were conducted in order to triangulate the data obtained from questionnaire. All instruments were translated to Amharic. For data analysis and interpretation descriptive statistics and parametric tests (t-test, one-way ANOVA and independent sample t-test) were used. The result shows that managing instructional program and creating positive climate practiced high while defining school mission was practiced medium. Despite this result communicating school goal, coordinating curriculum, proper use of instructional time, and proper use of incentives for teachers are some of the problematic areas that need improvements. Instructional leadership practice of principals did show significance difference with respect to service year difference, but not to levels of education. On the other hand, leadership practice was affected by problems created by students, over work load, lack of human resource, lack of PTA and KETB participation, lack of budget, lack of incentives, lack of motivation, and lack of experience in leadership. Woreda and Zone educational officials and political leaders must stand beside schools. Continuous training with performance monitoring, budget increment, timely fulfillment of human and material resources and enhancement of community participation are so vital. Moreover, especial training for principals on the skills of communication, motivation, developing team work and proper use of time shall be given soon. Any short or long-term training should be accompanied with effective and regular monitoring and evaluating system that help to test the progress and offer valuable feedback. In general primary school principals were not practicing instructional leadership adequately.