Published Paper Details:

Despite ongoing reforms, many schools in the Philippine basic education system continue to struggle with delivering consistent and high-quality services due to gaps in leadership effectiveness and teacher empowerment. This study investigates the mediating role of empowerment in the relationship between transformational leadership and service quality among school principals. Using a non-experimental, descriptive-correlational design with path analysis, data were collected from 160 public elementary school teachers in Alabel, Sarangani Province. Results revealed that transformational leadership, empowerment, and service quality were all perceived at high to very high levels. Strong and significant correlations were observed among the variables, with empowerment shown to mediate the effect of transformational leadership on service quality partially. These findings are anchored in Conger and Kanungo's Psychological Empowerment Theory, which explains how leaders can foster meaningful work engagement by enhancing employees' intrinsic motivation. The study highlights the need for leadership development programs that integrate empowerment strategies to strengthen institutional service delivery, supporting the realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4 and 16 by promoting inclusive, quality education and effective school governance.