When Teachers Become School Heads: Administrative and Instructional Competence of Teachers-in-Charge and Their Relationship to Students' Academic Performance

This study examined the administrative and instructional leadership competence of Teachers-in-Charge (TICs) assigned at the primary grade level and investigated their relationship with pupils’ academic performance in selected public schools in the Schools Division of Aklan, Philippines. A descriptive–correlational research design was employed involving 30 Teachers-in-Charge from the districts of Madalag and Libacao. Data were collected using a validated survey instrument measuring administrative leadership competence across personal, administrative, and creative skills and instructional leadership competence across supervision, curriculum monitoring, professional development support, instructional resource management, protection of instructional time, and student progress monitoring. Pupils’ academic performance was measured using class mean final grades for School Year 2024–2025. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Product–Moment Correlation Coefficient were used for data analysis. Findings revealed that Teachers-in-Charge demonstrated a high level of administrative leadership competence and instructional leadership competence. Learners under their supervision achieved an overall Very Satisfactory level of academic performance. However, results showed no statistically significant relationship between administrative leadership competence and pupils’ academic performance and between instructional leadership competence and pupils’ academic performance. The findings suggest that while Teachers-in-Charge demonstrate strong leadership competence necessary to sustain school operations and instructional processes, leadership competence alone may not directly predict learners’ academic achievement in geographically isolated school contexts. External variables such as instructional resources, teacher workload, and learner-related factors may influence academic outcomes. The study highlights the importance of strengthening leadership preparation programs and institutional support systems for Teachers-in-Charge and provides empirical evidence to inform policy decisions related to school leadership deployment in underserved educational settings.