Leadership studies have indicated that a principal’s organizational styles determine the literacy trajectory on the campus. This mixed-methods study examined how a principal’s leadership style influenced literacy programs in early education. The study utilized a purposeful sampling of four principals from elementary schools in an urban public school district in Texas. The participants were chosen based on comparable demographics and non-affiliation with a campus in the region of the investigator. The participant demographics of gender, years of administrative experience, and years at their current school were considered.

Leadership styles were measured using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), a tool designed to identify a leader or group of leaders as more or less transformational than the norm. Literacy achievement was measured via iStation data from the four participating schools from first and second grades during the 2018-2019 school year. Data were collected during two specified benchmarks: fall (beginning of year) and spring (end of year).

The investigator interviewed each principal and posed questions about professional literacy experience and its influence on campus literacy performance. The principals responded to questions regarding collaboration with teachers and reading instructional coaches to provide insight on curricular collaboration and student achievement.

The leadership styles of the participants were determined based on the overall calculated mean of the leadership subscale items on the MLQ. The MLQ is categorized into three separate leadership styles: transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and passive avoidant leadership. The study results indicated that principals with similar leadership styles experienced success within their campus literacy program. Transformational leadership showed a positive correlation between principal leadership style and campus literacy achievement. The participants exhibited fewer characteristics of transactional leadership and passive avoidant leadership in the MLQ findings.

Limitations of the study included the sample being confined to elementary schools in one district. The data collected in participant interviews posed a limitation due to potential biases in the responses.