Instructional Leadership Practices Among Headmasters and The Correlation with Primary Schools' Achievement in Sabah, Malaysia Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan1 , Gunasegaran Karuppannan2 & Justin Rumpod3 1 Faculty Science Social and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia 2 Centre for Graduate Studies, University Selangor, Malaysia 3 Kolompong Secondary School, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Correspondence: Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan, Faculty Science Social and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Received: January 3, 2022 Accepted: January 26, 2022 Online Published: January 27, 2022 doi: 10.5539/elt.v15n2p50 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v15n2p50 Abstract This study aims to identify the correlation between the instructional leadership practices by the headmasters with the level of performance and achievement of schools in Malaysia. A total of 141 respondents comprised of senior assistants of primary schools were examined. Respondents' perceptions of instructional leadership practices by the headmasters were gained using a set of questionnaire that was modified from the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). Descriptive statistical analysis was used to obtain the mean score, percentage, and standard deviation of the instructional practices. At the same time, ANOVA test was applied to obtain the perceptions from demographic factors and Pearson Correlation to measure the relationship between the instructional leadership and the schools' performance that is based on band measurement. The findings show that the level of instructional leadership practice is high, with a mean of 4.24. Band 1, 2, 3 and 4 schools each have min of 4.37 4.23, 4.23 and 4.05 respectively. Pearson correlation analysis shows that there is a weak negative correlation between the headmasters' instructional leadership practices level and the performance of the schools (r = -0.210). Thus, findings conclude that the level of instructional leadership practices among headmasters in primary schools is high and has a weak negative relationship in-term of schools' achievement. Keywords: instructional leadership, achievement, questionnaire, relationship 1. Introduction High performing and committed school leaders should be able to bring changes, improve the performance of the schools, and students' achievement. In the Malaysian Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2013-2025, the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MoE) has committed to place high quality headmasters and a team of school leaders to drive schools' excellence. Thus, among the main focus is to improve the quality performance of school leadership by improving the training and selection methods of school leaders. Through this transformation, MoE is highly confident that headmasters are not only capable of serving as an effective and outstanding head administrator, guiding the teachers, being agent of change in their schools and communities, but also as an effective instructional leader. Therefore, as the leader of the school, the headmaster needs to play a role as a motivator, mentor, and teacher supervisor to improve and maintain the quality of teaching in the school (Rutil & Gunasegaran, 2021). According to Hallinger (2011), instructional leadership has a positive relationship and contributes significantly to the quality of teacher teaching. In fact, the study of Sazali, Rusmini, Abang Hut and Zamri (2007) shows that there is a relationship between instructional leadership practices and students' academic achievement. Therefore, the instructional leadership by headmasters should be given emphasis in schools. Sufean (2014) explained that instructional leadership refers to leadership that focuses on academic management matters, improvement of teaching and learning process in the classroom is the main function of headmasters while other areas of leadership include maintaining their school's excellence