THE INFLUENCE OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL HEADS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF EAST AKIM MUNICIPAL, GHANA

Knowing the leadership styles of heads of Senior High Schools (SHS) helps to improve quality educational delivery. The aim of this paper was to assess the leadership styles of heads of Senior High Schools and its influence on academic performance. The concurrent triangulatory mixed method, involving both qualitative and quantitative was adopted for the study. Data was collected from a total of 460 respondents using a 24-item questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide. The qualitative data were analysed thematically while the qualitative data was processed using Statistical Package for Social Science Students (SPSS version 22.0). The results show that most of the respondents (72.1%) agreed their heads style of leadership was democratic. In addition, it was revealed that involvement of teachers and students in decision making, collaborating with subordinates as well as provision educational resources were the top most factors leading to increased students’ performance. It was also found that only democratic leadership style had significant relationship with students’ academic performance (p=0.003). The study recommends periodic organization of capacity building workshops to enhance the skills of heads on how to collaborate and involve subordinates more in decision making.  Article visualizations