Educational Leadership: The Effects of Perceived Support, Organization-Based Self-Esteem, and Citizenship Behaviors on Student Performance

Abstract

It is important to retain qualified teachers in any educational environment. This is especially true for teachers who work in a structured environment fraught with administrative, logistical, and political challenges. The principal is responsible for providing a supportive educational environment, which is necessary for an atmosphere where the teacher feels comfortable. This study suggests that leadership style influences the citizenship behaviors of teachers and student performance through a covenantal model that goes beyond economic, social, and psychological exchange models. Leadership style is measured with a triangulated design where the principal's self-reported leadership style is compared with administrators’ and teachers’ evaluations so that a top-down and bottom-up measure of leadership style is assessed. The covenantal model also shows a significant positive relationship to student performance as measured by the objective state assessment scores. Limitations of the study, implications for administrators, and directions for future research issues are discussed.