How Innovative Leadership Improves Primary School Service Quality: Evidence from Teacher Collaboration and Educational Data Management
Abstract
Educational service quality has become a strategic indicator of school effectiveness, requiring principals to adopt innovative leadership approaches while strengthening collaborative professional practices and evidence-based educational management. This study aimed to analyze the direct and indirect effects of innovative leadership on elementary school service quality through the mediating roles of teacher collaboration and educational data management. A quantitative explanatory survey design with a cross-sectional approach was employed. The study involved 114 teachers from public elementary schools in Talun District, Pekalongan Regency, Indonesia, selected through proportional random sampling. Data were collected using validated questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) with SmartPLS 4. The findings revealed that innovative leadership had a positive and significant effect on service quality, teacher collaboration, and educational data management. Teacher collaboration and educational data management also significantly enhanced school service quality. Furthermore, both variables functioned as partial mediators in the relationship between innovative leadership and service quality, with educational data management demonstrating a stronger mediating effect than teacher collaboration. These findings indicate that improving school service quality requires not only innovative leadership but also organizational mechanisms that foster professional collaboration and data-informed decision-making. This study contributes to the educational leadership literature by proposing an integrated model that explains how innovative leadership enhances school service quality through organizational collaboration and effective educational data management. The findings provide practical implications for strengthening principal professional development, collaborative school culture, and data-driven leadership to support continuous school improvement.
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