Instructional leadership and teachers' intent to leave: The mediating role of collective teacher efficacy and shared vision

Abstract

Keeping experienced and competent teachers in schools is becoming an important challenge for school leadership. Hence, this research tested an innovative model which explored the direct and indirect relationship between principals’ instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy, a shared vision, and a teacher’s intent to leave their profession. Data were collected from a survey of 1700 teachers from 130 Jewish and Arab elementary schools randomly selected from the database of the Israeli education system. To test the proposed multilevel model, we conducted multilevel structural equation modeling. The analysis confirmed that collective teacher efficacy and shared vision emerge as prominent mediators between principals’ instructional leadership and a teacher’s intent to leave. Regarding the differences between the two sectors (Arab and Jewish) that exist in the Israeli education system, collective teacher efficacy, as well as shared vision, played a mediating role between instructional leadership and a teacher’s intent to leave in the Jewish elementary schools, while in the Arab elementary schools, only collective teacher efficacy played a mediating role between instructional leadership and a teacher’s intent to leave. This study adds to the body of research directed at identifying administrative support and work-related factors that may decrease a teacher’s intent to leave and are amenable to leadership intervention.