Psychometric properties of the Turkish adaptation of the School Leader Empowering Behaviors Scale: validation and measurement invariance

Although there is increasing interest in school leaders’ empowering behaviors, no qualified tool like the School Leader Empowering Behaviors Scale (SLEBS) is available in Türkiye. This study aims to translate and adapt this tool into Turkish. Using convenience sampling, 500 Turkish teachers from K12 schools in Trabzon participated. Of these, 64% were women; the average age was 41.7 (SD = 7.37), with at least one year of teaching experience and meeting volunteering criteria. Data collected after obtaining necessary permissions and completing translation procedures. Reliability calculations, confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance testing, and convergent validity assessments were conducted through a cross-sectional survey design. Results indicated that, in coherence with the original version, the SLEBS showed high internal consistency and confirmed the 21-item, seven-factor structure. Additionally, the investigation demonstrated measurement invariance across teacher gender and school type, with satisfactory convergent validity statistics. All these proved that with strong psychometric properties, SLEBS is suitable for examining teachers’ perceptions of school leaders’ empowering behaviors. These findings have important implications for future research and policymaking, potentially guiding the development of teacher empowerment initiatives.