The Impact of School Tasks on the Leadership Self-Efficacy of Principals and Assistant Principals

State and federal accountability standards for student achievement and school improvement have increased the focus on school leadership, specifically the leadership of school principals and assistant principals. The pressure to lead schools effectively while fulfilling instructional leadership and school management tasks could impact school administrators’ perceptions of their leadership capabilities. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to identify the relationship between the instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks of school administrators and their leadership self-efficacy across multiple demographics. Survey data were collected from 73 school administrators, which quantified the leadership self-efficacy of principals and assistant principals based upon the completion of instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks and their use of time completing instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks. The major findings of the study indicated a positive, linear relationship between leadership self-efficacy and the instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks of school administrators. There was no statistically significant difference between leadership self-efficacy for instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks based upon the role of the school administrator. There was no statistically significant difference between the use of time on instructional leadership tasks and school management tasks based upon the role of the school administrator. The outcomes of this study provide insight into the types of tasks that impact the leadership self-efficacy of principals and assistant principals and could drive the professional learning content of school administrators and the delegation of their tasks. Future research on the leadership self-efficacy of school administrators could involve larger demographic subgroups and extend the study to include additional demographic factors impacting the work of principals and assistant principals