Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Principal Instructional Leadership Scale for High School Principals (PILS): Translation, Psychometric Properties, and Network Analysis

The primary objectives of this study were to translate and assess the psychometric properties of the Principal Instructional Leadership Scale (PILS) within an Iranian population. The translation and cross-cultural adaptation process involved five stages: forward translation, translation synthesis, backward translation, expert committee review, and pilot testing. Validity was established through face, content, construct, and convergent validity, while internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and McDonald’s omega (Ω). Additionally, Exploratory Graph Analysis (EGA) was employed to determine the dimensional structure of the PILS. To validate the PILS structure, the total sample of 816 participants was randomly divided into two subgroups of 408 individuals each for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The PILS encompassed areas such as improving curriculum quality, teaching, and enhancing adaptive learning effectiveness, extending beyond the dimensions covered by previous instructional leadership measures. The five elements exhibited robust internal consistency, with coefficients ranging from 0.93 to 0.97. Both first-order and second-order CFAs provided backing for the 5-factor model, fulfilling pre-defined standards. All items showed satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values above 0.8 and McDonald’s omega values over 0.7.The second-order average variance extracted (AVE) value of 0.50 confirmed the validity of the PILS. In addition, gender-based ANOVA revealed no significant differences in PILS constructs between male and female participants. The Persian version of the PILS demonstrated commendable reliability and validity, making it suitable for assessing principal instructional leadership in Iran.