Abstract:

The paper discusses the impact of Instructional Leadership on effective teaching practices and learning achievement. In particular, examines three Instructional Leadership variables and seeks to investigate the influence of effective teaching practices, as well as on the achievement of 6th Grade students in Primary school in mathematics, taking into account the school context. The continuous educational changes of the 21st century promote the important leaders’ role to improve the quality of the education regarding Instructional Leadership. The data collection is based on quantitative research and gathered from 81 principals, 139 teachers, and 1553 students. Data analysis adapting Structural Equation Models (SEM). The Instructional Leadership approach assumes that the principal evaluation improves teachers’ effective practices and increases the student’s outcomes. The purpose of this research was to correlate the Instructional Leadership practices with the teacher effective practices, and with the students’ achievement, taking into account the school context. Therefore, this paper will discuss three of the Instructional Leadership variables, such as teaching evaluation, setting teaching objectives, and promoting professional development, and the impact on the effective teaching practices and 6th Grade students’ achievement in mathematics.

Simultaneously, through this paper, the educational evaluation systems, and specifically, the principal evaluation have the opportunity to adopt individual evaluation practices based on the Instructional Leadership approach for succeeding the continuous development and improvement.

The research-based on quantitative method and more specifically, through the research sought to answer three research questions:
(i) Which of the Instructional Leadership practices is the strongest prognostic indicator in the achievement of 6th-grade students outcomes in primary school in mathematics?,
(ii) Which is the relationship between effective teaching practices of teachers and the achievement of 6th-grade students outcomes in primary school in mathematics?, and
(iii) Which is the relationship between effective teaching practices of teachers, the school context and of the achievement of 6th-grade students in primary school in mathematics?

Data sources included two questionnaires were constructed by the researcher (Hallinger, 1984a,b). Simultaneously, the student achievement was examined through the Mathematics test (Kyriakidis). The Mathematics test was examined basic knowledge and skills of mathematics.

The results of the research have demonstrated the positive impact between Instructional Leadership, the effective teaching practices of teachers, and the performance of 6th Grade students in primary school in mathematics. In particular, one of the three independent variables of the Instructional Leadership, teacher evaluation by the principal has an immediate, positive, and statistically significant impact on effective teaching practices of teachers and an indirect effect on the performance of 6th Grade students in primary school in mathematics, taking into the account school context.

Overall, this research contributes to the international literature based on Instructional Leadership and the multifaceted principal role in the 21st century to provide information about specific practices for improving the teacher's effectiveness and students' achievements.

Keywords:

Instructional Leadership, principal evaluation, student's outcomes.