Principal Ethical Leadership Scale: A Validity and Reliability Study Based on Teachers’ Perceptions

Ethical leadership is a critical dimension of leadership, particularly in educational settings, where the moral climate, trust, and professional relationships within schools are influenced by leaders. Although the body of research on ethical leadership in Türkiye has expanded in recent years, there remains a persistent need for valid and reliable measurement instruments that enable cross-cultural and international comparisons. This study aims to adapt the Ethical Leadership Questionnaire (ELQ), originally developed by Yukl et al. (2013), into Turkish within the context of school principals and to examine its validity and reliability based on teachers’ perceptions. The study was conducted with twoindependent samples of teachers (N=152 and N=153) from different types of schools in Malatya. The adaptation process followed standard procedures, including translation, back-translation, expert review, and linguistic validation. Construct validity was examined through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), while reliability was assessed using internal consistency coefficients. The findings revealed that the scale has a strong unidimensional structure, which explains approximately 87% of the total variance. The factor loadings were high (.890–.965); Cronbach’s alpha (α) and McDonald’s omega (ω) coefficients were .99, indicating that the scale has excellent internal consistency. CFA results supported the single-factor model with acceptable fit indices. The findings indicate that the Turkish version of the ELQ, which is the Principal Ethical Leadership Scale (PELS), is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing school principals’ ethical leadership behaviors based on teachers’ perceptions. The scale offers a valuable contribution to both empirical research and practical applications in the field of educational administration.