Decentralization and school based management are redefining the role ofthe school principal from school manager to instructional leader. The principal's core responsibility is to ensure i quality teaching and learning in classroom. The aim ofthis study was to examine the practice of principals in implementing instructional leadership in secondary schools. To this end an attempt was made to look in to the current practice ofprincipals ofsecondary schools ofBahir Dar City Administration. Descriptive survey and causal comparative methods were employed. All thel2 government and none government secondary schools were included in the study. The population of the study was 560 secondary school teachers, 24 principals and vice principals and one cluster schools supervisor. Among these, 280 sample teachers were selected by random sampling technique using lottery system and all the 24 principals and vice principals, and one supervisor were selected by comprehensive sampling method. Questionnaires and unstructured ) interview were used to gather data. The questionnaires contained a 5 point rating scale. The data obtained was then analyzed using various statistical tools such as percentage, frequency, mean value, one sample and independent sample t-tests. The data gatheredfrom the interview of principals and clus(~r supervisor were used as supportive data. The major findings of the research were: the instructional leadership practice ofgovernment secondary school principals was found insufficient while that of non government school principal was encouraging. The result of the comparative study between the two groups ofprincipals showed that there was significant statistical difference between the two groups and non government school principals were found better in practicing instructional leadership. The major challenges were: lack of commitment ofthe principals, over loaded paper work and routine managerial activities, lack of adequate training for principals, lack ofcommitment ofthe city administration education office to support principals, lack ofincentives and advancement opportunities for principals and, lack offinancial and material supply for schools. The recommendations forwarded were: providing sustained and planned support for principals, rewarding successful and model principals, establishing effective carrier structure program for principals, providing pre-service and in­ service instructional leadership training for principals, scaling up best practices ofprincipals, careful selection and recruitment ofprincipals. creating strong school-community partnership to solve financial and material supply problems ofschools and reducing the managerial tasks of principals so that they get time to focus on their instructional leadership roles.

A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for Degree ofMasters ofEducation in School Principal ship Department ofEducational Planning & Management Faculty ofEducation & Behavioral Sciences Bahir Dar University