School Heads’ Instructional Leadership Practices

Instructional leadership encompasses school leaders’ strategies and actions to improve teaching and learning. In this context, this aims to examine the instructional leadership competence of school heads in various dimensions, including leading strategically, managing school operations and resources, focusing on teaching and learning, developing self and others, and building connections. Data for this descriptive-correlation study was collected from 239 elementary school teachers from the total population of 630 in the identified District for the School Year 2022-2023. The findings indicate a commendable level of leadership practices, particularly in leading strategically, managing resources, and prioritizing teaching and learning. Age and plantilla position play significant roles, with older individuals and those in lower plantilla positions demonstrating higher proficiency in leadership. However, age only significantly impacts a school head’s ability to develop themselves and support others. The results of this study call for tailored leadership development programs based on meticulous needs assessments that are crucial for enhancing leadership skills at all levels within the research environment. Keywords: Instructional leadership, Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads, collaboration, professional learning communities, strategic community engagement initiatives.