Impact of Principals’ Instructional Leadership on Students’ Academic Achievement in Senior Secondary Schools in Kwara State

This study investigates the impact of principals' instructional leadership behaviour on students' academic achievement in senior secondary schools in Kwara State, North Central Nigeria. Instructional leadership, defined as the direct involvement of school principals in supporting, supervising, and improving teaching and learning, has been linked in international research to significant improvements in student outcomes. In Kwara State, the extent to which secondary school principals actively engage in instructional leadership and the academic consequences of such engagement have not been empirically quantified. The study adopts a descriptive correlational design and samples 180 teachers and principals from 24 senior secondary schools across Kwara Central, North, and South senatorial zones. Validated questionnaires are administered and data are analysed using Pearson correlation and multiple regression. The study is anchored on the Instructional Leadership Framework of Hallinger and Heck. Findings indicate that students in schools whose principals actively engage in curriculum alignment, instructional supervision, and teacher support activities achieve significantly higher scores in the Senior School Certificate Examination. Time allocation pressures and administrative overload are identified as the primary obstacles to instructional leadership practice. The study recommends training programmes specifically designed to equip Kwara State principals with evidence-based instructional leadership competencies. Keywords: instructional leadership, academic achievement, principal behaviour, senior secondary schools, Kwara State.