Abstract:
This study examined the relationship between principals’ leadership practices,
teachers’ empowerment and students’ academic achievement in Secondary Schools of
Dire Dawa City Administration. Concurrent mixed research design that
simultaneously collect quantitative and qualitative data was used to investigate the
issues under study. A total of 447 teachers in eight schools, eight principals and five
supervisors were participated in the study. Teachers were selected using simple
random sampling method to fill in the surveys. All principals and supervisors of the
sample schools were included for collecting qualitative data. The Leadership
Behavior survey and school participant empowerment scale were used to collect
quantitative data from teachers. Interviews were used to collect qualitative data from
principals and supervisors. Student achievement of five consecutive years in EGSECE
was used to measure students’ academic achievement. Pearson’s correlation,
regression analysis and Haye’s process model of mediation analysis were employed to
analyze quantitative data. Qualitative data were presented and interpreted in
descriptive ways to triangulate the results of the quantitative analysis. The study result
unveiled that students’ academic achievement had significant relationships with
principals’ leadership practices and teachers’ empowerment. Significant relationship
was also reported between principals’ leadership practices and teachers’
empowerment. The status dimensions of teachers’ empowerment was found the most
predictor of students’ academic achievement. Teachers’ empowerment was found a
partial mediator of the relationship between principals’ leadership practices and
students’ academic achievement. Qualitative data confirmed the quantitative results.
Thus, the effect of principals’ leadership practices on students’ academic achievement
is direct and more significantly indirect, mediated by teachers’ empowerment. School
principals are therefore required to become familiar with leadership practices that
facilitate teachers’ empowerment. Finally, recommendations for future researches,
policy, and practices were forwarded
