Leadership perceptual gaps and their influence on school outcomes in resource constrained secondary schools in Ethiopia

Persistently low pass rates (approximately 3.1%) on Ethiopia’s Higher Education Entrance Examination necessitate an investigation into school leadership in resource-constrained secondary schools in the Sidama Region of Ethiopia. An explanatory sequential mixed-method research approach was adopted and implemented within this study. Using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, quantitative research was conducted with 328 participants across 37 secondary schools in the Sidama Region, supplemented by focus group interviews, inspection reports, and national examination outcomes. The results revealed that there is a 41.8% variation in the students’ academic performance attributed to leadership styles. Transformational leadership had a significantly positive association with academic performance (r = .442, p < .001), whereas laissez-faire leadership had a strongly negative association (r = − .606, p < .001). However, transactional leadership – being the most common leadership style – had no statistical significance when associated with academic performance. An important perceptual discrepancy was recorded between the principal’s perception of leadership versus teacher perception, especially concerning laissez-faire leadership, as the data demonstrated a situation where teachers perceived the administration’s activities as instructional inactivity due to a leadership blind spot. The qualitative analysis indicated that excessive focus on bureaucratic tasks decreased instructional involvement. There was also an inspection paradox as the ratings on school inspections continued to improve despite poor student examination results. Therefore, the study suggests 360-degree feedback and coaching for instructional leadership to match views with educational goals.