School leaders’ style and pupils’ academic performance in public basic schools in Ghana.
School leaders’ style and pupils’ academic performance in public basic schools in Ghana.
This study investigated how the leadership style of public basic school leaders affected the pupils’ academic performance in the Agona West Municipality of Ghana’s Central Region. School leaders (SLs) play a critical role in school and pupils’ academic performance. This quantitative study used a descriptive survey design. SLs were purposively sampled, while teachers were selected through simple random sampling techniques. The study’s sample size was 511 respondents from a population of 1,582. Data was gathered through a structured questionnaire. Reliability was determined using test-retest, evaluating the consistency of test findings across test administrations. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies & percentages). Cross- tabulations of the findings were also performed to highlight specifics of the findings in connection with the independent variable (school leaders’ styles). The study found that SLs mostly used transformational and democratic leadership styles to enhance pupils’ academic performance. Also, findings indicated that pupils’ academic performance was significantly impacted by SLs’ leadership styles. The study concludes that transformational and democratic school leadership styles are most crucial to effectively create a positive school climate to enhance teaching quality, engagement, and motivation to significantly influence pupils’ learning outcomes. The study recommends that school leaders should
be trained in academic leadership skills. Insights from this research will inform the Ghana Education Service, school leaders, teacher recruitment, inform leadership development and policy reforms to strengthen teaching quality and improve learning outcomes in public basic schools.
The study fills a documented gap no prior research had specifically examined how leadership styles among public basic school leaders in Agona West Municipality affect pupils' academic performance, despite the municipality's below-average BECE pass rate (42.6% vs. 52.1% national average in 2019). This gives policymakers localized evidence rather than relying on generalized or foreign findings.
Democratic and transformational leadership styles were found to be most prevalent and most positively associated with academic outcomes, while autocratic and laissez-faire styles were linked to weaker results. This validates a policy direction toward participatory, capacity-building leadership models over top-down administrative control.
A notable contribution is the finding that leaders perceive themselves as more collaborative and feedback-seeking than teachers and pupils report experiencing. This signals that policy cannot rely solely on training leaders in the correct style mechanisms for accountability and verification of practice are also needed.
Policy Implications
- Leadership training as a prerequisite, not an afterthought. With 96.3% of respondents endorsing mandatory management/administrative training, the study supports GES and Ministry of Education policy requiring formal leadership certification before headship appointment, rather than the current practice of appointing leaders based on experience alone.
- Institutionalizing participatory governance. Given strong support (93.9%) for staff involvement in decision-making, policy could mandate structures like SPIP (School Performance Improvement Plan) committees with genuine (not token) teacher, pupil, and PTA/SMC representation.
- Colleges of Education curriculum reform. The study explicitly recommends that teacher-training institutions build leadership and ethics content into pre-service curricula, positioning leadership competence as a career-long developmental trajectory rather than a role assumed late and informally.
- Contextualized rather than imported leadership models. The finding that AWM shows a preference for stable, transformative leadership over Western-style situational/distributed models (only 70% supported context-based style-switching) suggests policy should adapt leadership frameworks to Ghanaian cultural and resource realities rather than transplanting foreign models wholesale.
- Complementary policies beyond leadership. Since leadership alone doesn't fully explain outcomes (pupil discipline, motivation, and school conditions also matter), the study cautions policymakers against treating leadership reform as a silver bullet it should be paired with resource provision and pupil-focused interventions.