Administrators’ Leadership Styles and School Academic Performance: A Case of Selected Secondary Schools in Mukono District-Uganda

The study explored administrators’ leadership styles and school academic performance in selected secondary schools in Mukono District, Uganda. It employed a mixed methods approach in data collection. The specific objectives were to: (i). Determine the influence of participative leadership style on academic performance, (ii). Assess the impact of directive leadership style (iii). Examine the effect of supportive leadership style and (iv). Explore students’ perceptions of administrators’ leadership styles and their influence on school academic performance. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, involving a sample of 32 headteachers, 128 teachers, 32 Directors of Studies, 1 District Education Officer, 1 District Inspector of Schools and 320 students. Self-administered questionnaires, interview guides and document review guides were used to collect data. Data were analysed using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) for quantitative data and narrative analysis for qualitative data. The findings focused on Pearson correlation coefficients among participative leadership (PL), directive leadership (DL), supportive leadership (SL) and students’ perception of headteacher leadership influence on academic performance (SP). The analysis revealed a strong positive correlation between directive leadership and student perception (r = .72), there was a weak positive correlation between participative leadership and student perception (r = .12), and a negligible negative correlation between supportive leadership and student perception (r = –.08). It was concluded that among the leadership styles examined, directive leadership showed the strongest positive association with students’ perception of headteacher influence on academic performance. These results highlight the potential effectiveness of directive leadership in shaping students’ perceptions of academic guidance and performance. Recommendations included implementing regular participative decision-making opportunities, balancing directive leadership with flexibility, prioritising emotional support for teachers and fostering an open communication system with students.