Digital Leadership and School Effectiveness in Rural Schools: A Structural Equation Model Approach

This study investigates the relationship between digital leadership dimensions and school effectiveness in a rural school district in South Africa. This study advances the research frontier, which is predominantly focused on urban and well-resourced environments, by providing actual information from rural schools where infrastructural and contextual obstacles remain significant. A quantitative study design was employed, utilizing a census survey of 107 educators from primary and secondary public schools in a rural area of the Western Cape Province. The Digital Leadership and School Effectiveness Questionnaire (DLSEQ) was used to collect data. It measures five dimensions of digital leadership: visionary leadership, digital learning culture, professional development, systemic improvement, and digital citizenship. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 4 was employed to assess both measurement and structural models. The findings reveal that digital citizenship and professional development were significant positive predictors of school effectiveness, whereas digital learning culture showed a significant negative relationship. Visionary leadership and systemic improvement were not significant predictors. Collectively, the five digital leadership dimensions explained 81.9% of the variance in school effectiveness. The study contributes theoretically by integrating Transformational Leadership Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model within the context of rural education. Practical implications advocate for context-sensitive digital leadership strategies to enhance school effectiveness in under-resourced rural environments.