Principal job satisfaction, distributed leadership, teacher-student relationships, and student achievement in Turkey: a multilevel mediated-effect model

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This study investigated the relationship between principal job satisfaction, distributed leadership, teacher-student relationships, and student reading achievement in Turkey. Using school- and teacher-level data from the PISA 2018 and TALIS 2018, we conducted a mediated-effect with antecedent effect model, in which the construct of teacher-student relationships was proposed as the mediator of the effects of distributed leadership on student achievement, while principal job satisfaction was included as the antecedent of distributed leadership. The results confirmed the indirect effect of distributed leadership on student achievement through teacher-student relationships. We also found that principal job satisfaction exercised a positive and significant effect on the enactment of distributed leadership practices. This study adds evidence to the international literature suggesting that principal job satisfaction is an important mechanism for distributed leadership practices and that the execution of such practices improves student achievement by promoting teacher-student relationships. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.