INTRODUCTION
Statement of Problem
Does a school’s administration leadership style impact the outcome of schools
and of the students’ achievements? Specifically, this study investigates the principal’s
leadership style and its impact on shaping the schools’ learning environments, hence the
schools’ outcomes. Furthermore, another dimension is added to the above investigated
relationship with respect to the culture of each nation which could influence the
leadership style of schools. Two different cultures were selected in this study, namely,
Kuwait (a religious, conservative, Middle Eastern society) and the USA (a modern,
secular, liberal, western society). Kuwait and the USA were selected in this study
because of the growing trend in the Kuwaiti education system of adopting USA
educational models, especially in private schools. Furthermore, the USA educational
model, with all its challenges, is considered a worldwide role model that other nations
could benefit from.