Educational leadership effectiveness: a Rasch analysis
Purpose The purposes of this paper are, first, to establish the psychometric properties of the ELP tool, and, second, to test, using a Rasch item response theory analysis, the hypothesized progression of challenge presented by the items included in the tool. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected at two time points through a survey of the educational leadership practices of school principals (n=148) and their teachers (n=5,425) The survey comprised seven effectiveness scales relating to school wide dimensions of leadership, and one scale relating to the effectiveness of individual principals' leadership. The authors undertook validation of the hypothesized structure of the eight ELP scales using the Rasch rating scale model. Findings The authors established constructs that underpin leadership practices that are more and less effectively performed and determined the nature of their progression from those that are relatively routine through those that are more rigorous and challenging to ena.