School quality, leadership practices, organizational culture, and self-efficacy: A SEM analysis

The causal quantitative study aimed to develop a structural model of school quality using Structural Equation Modeling, exploring relationships among leadership practices, organizational culture, self-efficacy, and school quality. The study involved 552 public elementary and secondary school principals who completed the Leadership Practices Inventory, School Culture Triage Survey, Principals’ Self-Efficacy Scale, and Seal of Excellence. Findings showed that school principals demonstrated a moderate level of leadership practices. Regarding organizational culture, most participants indicated a need for "modifications and improvements," while a smaller group stressed the critical need for immediate attention. Principals exhibited low self-efficacy, and public schools in the division were rated "Satisfactory." Leadership practices had a significant positive direct effect on organizational culture and self-efficacy but a nonsignificant negative direct effect on school quality. Organizational culture and self-efficacy did not significantly affect school quality, and leadership practices had no significant indirect effect on school quality. Neither organizational culture nor self-efficacy mediated the relationship between leadership practices and school quality. The revised model included error term correlations between two variables under the leadership practices construct. Leadership practices still showed a positive direct effect on organizational culture and self-efficacy, but the negative direct effect on school quality remained insignificant. Organizational culture and self-efficacy continued to have no significant direct impact on school quality, and leadership practices maintained an insignificant indirect effect. Once again, neither organizational culture nor self-efficacy served as mediators. These findings highlight the complexity and need for a deeper understanding of school quality. Keywords: school heads, school quality, leadership practices, organizational culture, self-efficacy