EDUCATIONAL POLICY IMPLEMENTATION AND SCHOOL LEADERSHIPEFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

The study focuses on the implementation of educational policy and the effectiveness ofschool leadership in public secondary schools in Delta State. Two research questions wereraised and answered, while two null hypotheses were formulated and tested. This studyadopts a descriptive survey research design. The population for this study comprised allpublic secondary school principals and teachers in Delta State. There are currently 479public secondary schools in Delta State, with 479 principals and 14,877 teachers in DeltaState. The sample for this study was 100 principals and 400 teachers in selected publicsecondary schools in Delta State. A self-developed instrument titled (Educational PolicyImplementation and School Leadership Effectiveness Questionnaire - EPISLEQ) was usedto collect data for the study. The data was collected from correspondents on a face-to-facebasis using a questionnaire with the help of a trained research assistant. The reliabilitycoefficients of the instruments ranged from 0.74 to 0.86 through Cronbach's Alpha.Descriptive statistics of simple percentage, mean score and standard deviation were usedto answer research questions. Benchmark of 2.50 was established to accept any item witha mean rating of 2.50 or above as agreed, while any item with a mean rating less than 2.50was regarded as disagreed for research questions. Pearson Product-Moment CorrelationAnalysis was used at a 0.05 significance level. The study found that school leadershipeffectiveness significantly influences educational policy implementation in publicsecondary schools in Delta State, with stronger leadership linked to better policy outcomes.However, systemic challenges, particularly inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, andlimited teacher training, impede effective implementation, especially in rural schools.Principals demonstrate moderate leadership effectiveness, excelling in visioncommunication but struggling with change management due to insufficient training andresources. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to strengthenleadership capacity, improve infrastructure, and address community pressures to enhancepolicy outcomes and educational quality.