The School Heads’ Leadership Practices Among Public High Schools in the Schools Division of Kalinga

Abstract

This study examined the leadership practices of school heads among public high schools in the Schools Division of Kalinga and their relationship with teachers’ instructional practices. It focused on transformational, instructional, and administrative leadership practices, as well as teachers’ lesson planning, instructional delivery, classroom management, and student learning outcomes. The study employed a descriptive-correlational research design. Data were gathered from 312 respondents composed of 224 teachers, 56 master teachers, and 32 school heads across 32 public secondary schools in Kalinga. A structured questionnaire adapted from the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads and the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers was used. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, weighted mean, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Walli’s test, Spearman’s rank-order correlation, and stepwise backward regression analysis. Findings showed that school heads’ leadership practices were often practiced overall, with administrative leadership obtaining the highest area mean, followed by instructional leadership and transformational leadership. Teachers’ instructional practices were always practiced overall, with lesson planning, classroom management, instructional delivery, and student learning outcomes all rated highly. However, the relationship between school heads’ leadership practices and teachers’ instructional practices was not statistically significant at the district level. Regression analysis likewise showed that leadership practices had very weak explanatory power in predicting instructional practices. The study concludes that while school heads demonstrated consistent leadership practices and teachers showed strong instructional practices, other contextual variables may better explain variations in instructional effectiveness. The findings imply the need for targeted leadership development, strengthened instructional supervision, improved assessment literacy, and collaborative school-based professional learning programs.