Validating Islamic-Integrated Instructional Leadership: A Psychometric Evaluation of the Ulul Albab Paradigm and Student Development Outcomes

This study aimed to develop and validate a psychometric instrument to assess Principal Instructional Leadership, the Ulul Albab educational paradigm, and multidimensional Student Development Outcomes in Islamic-integrated secondary schools. Drawing from a theoretical framework encompassing eight leadership domains, three Ulul Albab epistemological dimensions (Quranic, Encyclopedic, and Ijtihadik), and nine student development constructs, the instrument was subjected to rigorous Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Data were collected using a 10-point Likert scale and analyzed via Principal Component Analysis with varimax rotation. Findings confirmed the robustness of all constructs, with Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) values exceeding 0.6, significant Bartlett’s Test results (p < 0.001), factor loadings above 0.60, and Cronbach’s Alpha values above 0.70 for all domains. Notably, no items were excluded during validation, affirming the instrument’s structural integrity and contextual relevance. The validated tool effectively measures leadership practices aligned with Islamic epistemology and offers a comprehensive framework for evaluating holistic student development. This study contributes both conceptually and methodologically to the scholarship on Islamic educational leadership and lays a foundation for future confirmatory analysis and educational policy implementation.