School Principals’ Leadership Styles and Organizational Climate Toward Innovative Leadership Program

Abstract

This paper assessed the relationship between principal leadership style and school climate using Multifactorial Leadership and School Climate Questionnaires. The theoretical framework of this research comes from leadership style theory. The author surveyed 400 middle managers from 20 colleges and universities in the university town of China and used structural equation modelling for empirical analysis. Based on the findings, principal leadership has an impact on four dimensions of school climate (faculty leadership, academic climate, teacher professionalism, and institutional vulnerability) It is therefore recommended to use a larger sample of administrators from multiple school districts to see whether similar findings will occur. Educational leaders must recognize the impact of the principal's leadership behavior on the school's organizational atmosphere which would help create a learning school atmosphere that is conducive to school development. Currently, all students are under increasing pressure at the national, state, and local levels to perform to higher standards. Thus, there is an increasing demand for teachers and principals to improve the school climate.