The effects of school leadership on students’ academic achievement.

Abstract

This study examined the effects of key determinants of school leadership on students’ academic achievement. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional survey design was employed, with stratified random sampling to select 125 teachers from the Techiman and Wenchi municipalities. Data were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-tests, correlation analyses, mean analyses, and multiple regression analyses. Student academic achievement served as the dependent variable, while supervision, staff recruitment, student admission, discipline, and staff welfare were the independent variables. The results revealed strong positive correlations among supervision, staff recruitment, discipline, staff welfare, and student achievement, whereas student admission showed a weak relationship with academic performance. Among the leadership determinants, staff welfare (β = 0.509) and supervision (β = 0.380) emerged as the strongest predictors of student achievement. Within the supervision construct, teacher behaviour (β = 0.328) and attendance (β = 0.402) were identified as significant contributors. The ANOVA results confirmed the models’ statistical significance for school leadership, F(5, 119) = 8.024, p < .001, and supervision, F(6, 118) = 9.703, p < .001. The study concludes that effective leadership strategies and strengthened supervisory practices are essential for improving students’ academic achievement. It is therefore recommended that school leaders adopt leadership approaches that enhance teacher performance, commitment, and accountability to promote sustained academic success.