Factorial Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Principal Leadership Questionnaire in Greek Educational Context

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of the Principal Leadership Questionnaire (PLQ) to Greek educational context and to present the most important aspects describing educational leadership in a centralized educational context. It was sought to examine; a) the factorial structure of PLQ b) its invariance across teachers’ levels of education and c) its concurrent validity. Data were collected from 730 Greek primary and secondary school teachers of 77 schools. Teachers were asked to fill in the PLQ and Teacher’s Satisfaction Inventory (TSI). A bi-factor model was selected as the most tenable among five completive PLQ structures to describe teachers’ responses. Moreover, PLQ was found to be invariant across primary and secondary school teachers. Multiple-group analysis results indicate that primary, compared to secondary school teachers, reported more often that their principals behave as a transformational leader. On the contrary, secondary school teachers’ perceptions revealed that their principal implemented practices related to factor “intellectual; stimulation” more often than primary school teachers. Structural equation modeling showed that the general factor of the PLQ significantly and substantially predicted the “principal” facet of teachers’ job satisfaction, providing evidence of concurrent validity of the Greek version of the PLQ. Implications and suggestions for future research and policy are discussed.