Leadership Styles and Instructional Supervision for Quality Classroom Assessment in Ghana’s Colleges of Education

This study examines how principals’ leadership styles shape instructional supervision and the quality of classroom assessment in Ghana’s Colleges of Education. An interpretive phenomenological design was used with fifteen participants comprising four principals, two vice principals, and nine tutors from four public Colleges of Education in the Ashanti Region. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews, institutional document analysis, and non-participant observation and were analysed thematically with support from NVivo 14. The findings indicate that assessment quality was strengthened where principals combined transformational, participatory, instructional, and ethical leadership behaviours. In such settings, supervision was experienced less as inspection and more as professional dialogue involving mentorship, peer moderation, collaborative assessment planning, and reflective feedback. At the same time, administrative workload, centralised reporting demands, limited financial autonomy, and uneven opportunities for assessment-related professional development reduced the time and institutional space available for sustained instructional supervision.
A critical distinction therefore emerged between procedural compliance and deeper professional engagement with assessment for learning. The study argues that leadership style should not be treated as an isolated personal attribute because its practical effects are conditioned by institutional structures, professional relationships, and the wider policy environment. Sustainable assessment improvement requires leadership development that integrates assessment literacy, instructional supervision, distributed decision-making, ethical practice, and context-sensitive organisational support. The study contributes Ghana-specific evidence to educational leadership scholarship by showing how principals negotiate the tension between external accountability and professional agency within a reforming teacher education system.

Assessment leadership, Ghanaian Colleges of Education, instructional supervision, leadership styles, classroom assessment quality

1. Acquah, H. E. A. (2020). Empirical evidence of the effect of leadership styles on faculty staff performance at universities in Ghana. The International Journal of Business & Management, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.24940/theijbm/2020/v8/i4/bm2004-060 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ampomah, R. (2021). Ethical Leadership and Teacher Professional values: Matters arising from the Northern Region of Ghana. European Journal of Education Studies, 8(7). https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i7.3829 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Andriadi, D., & Sulistiyo, U. (2024). The influence of transformational and instructional leadership styles of school principals on teachers’ performance, motivation, job satisfaction and student achievement in primary and secondary schools. PPSDP International Journal of Education, 3(2), 536–548. https://doi.org/10.59175/pijed.v3i2.335 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Ansaah, E., Abonyi, U. K., & Salifu, I. (2024). Headteachers’ instructional leadership practices: A comparison of public and private basic schools in two selected districts in Ghana. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2024.2381740 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Asante, J. (2024). Principals as instructional leaders and classroom assessment practices in Colleges of Education (Ashanti Region) [Unpublished PhD thesis]. University of Education, Winneba. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Atakora, P. O. (2019). Leadership practices of principals of colleges of education and their influence on job satisfaction of tutors in Ghana. The International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies, 7(5). https://doi.org/10.24940/theijhss/2019/v7/i5/hs1905-010 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Barasa, D. W., & Omariba, A. (2024). Impediments to effective leadership in public service: A case of administrative and political challenges in county governments in Kenya. East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 7(1), 548–560. https://doi.org/10.37284/eajass.7.1.2146 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Bush, T., & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: What do we know? School Leadership and Management, 34(5), 553–571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2014.928680 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Dare, P. S., Henderson, L., & Babaeff, R. (2025). Basic education headteacher leadership in Ghana: A review of empirical studies from 1994 to 2022. Educational Management Administration & Leadership. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432241310555 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Davidson, F. D., & Hughes, T. R. (2020). Moral dimensions of leadership. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.785 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Deniz, Ü., & Erdener, M. A. (2020). Levels of school administrators exhibiting instructional supervision behaviours according to perceptions of teachers. Research in Educational Administration & Leadership, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2020.4.3 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Esia Donkoh, K., & Quansah, D. K. (2021). Leadership styles of principals based on setting, zone, and location of public colleges of education in Ghana. Education Quarterly Reviews, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.31014/aior.1993.04.02.293 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Ghana Tertiary Education Commission. (2022). Ghana Journal of Higher Education (Vol. 8). Accra, Ghana: Ghana Tertiary Education Commission. https://www.gtec.edu.gh/download/file/Journal%20Vol%208%20FullDoc%20October%2017.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Gomiole, G. G., Tarekegn, W. M., & Wodajo, A. L. (2024). Principals as instructional leaders: An exploration of school context factors that affect principals’ competence at primary schools in Tarcha town, Ethiopia. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2024.2387556 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Hoque, K. E., & Raya, Z. T. (2023). Relationship between principals’ leadership styles and teachers’ behaviour. Behavioral Sciences, 13(2), 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13020111 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Kiplangat, H. K. (2024). Transformational leadership in higher education: Empowering Africa’s future. Journal of Research and Academic Writing, 1(2), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.58721/jraw.v1i2.846 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Kyei Nuamah, D., & Peng, Z. (2023). High school principals in Ghana: Leadership styles and practices toward effective educational outcomes. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2023.2272146 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Legede, C. A., Mamo, T. R., Debelo, D. B., & Yismaw, A. A. (2025). Strengthening the foundation: The role of supervision in improving quality service provision in pre-primary education of Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia. Cogent Education, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2558378 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2019). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership and Management, 40(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Mensah, R. O., Amponsah, K. D., Babah, P. A., & Jibril, H. S. (2024). Factors affecting students’ academic performance and teachers’ efficiency in Ghana: A case study of Wa Senior High School. Cogent Arts and Humanities, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2412944 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Mifsud, D. (2023). A systematic review of school distributed leadership: Exploring research purposes, concepts and approaches in the field between 2010 and 2022. Journal of Educational Administration & History, 56(2), 154–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2022.2158181 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Ni, Y., Yan, R., & Pounder, D. (2017). Collective leadership: Principals’ decision influence and the supportive or inhibiting decision influence of other stakeholders. Educational Administration Quarterly, 54(2), 216–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X17723427 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Pervin, N., & Mokhtar, M. (2022). The interpretivist research paradigm: A subjective notion of a social context. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarped/v11-i2/12938 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning. (2025). T TELL: Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning. https://t-tel.org/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. University of Education, Winneba. (2025). Requirements for the application for ethical clearance. https://www.uew.edu.gh/sites/default/files/2025-03/requirements_for_application_for_ethical_clearance_updated.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Vlachopoulos, D., & Makri, A. (2024). A systematic literature review on authentic assessment in higher education: Best practices for the development of 21st-century skills, and policy considerations. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 83, 101425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2024.101425 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Yuan, R., & Zhang, J. (2016). Promoting teacher collaboration through joint lesson planning: Challenges and coping strategies. The Asia Pacific Education Researcher, 25(5–6), 817–826. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-016-0300-7 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Yue, C. (2023). Educational administrators’ leadership styles and teachers’ organisational commitment: Inputs for a work engagement program. Open Journal of Leadership, 12(03), 352–373. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojl.2023.123017 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Assessment of the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Repositioning TVET for Economic Development in Nigeria
• Teachers’ Use of Assure Model Instructional Design on Learners’ Problem Solving Efficacy in Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya
• “E-Booksan Ang Kaalaman”: Development, Validation, and Utilization of Electronic Book in Academic Performance of Grade 9 Students in Social Studies
• Analyzing EFL University Students’ Academic Speaking Skills Through Self-Recorded Video Presentation
• Major Findings of The Study on Total Quality Management in Teachers’ Education Institutions (TEIs) In Assam – An Evaluative Study