Development and Validation of the AI-Driven Pedagogical Leadership Agility Scale (AIDPLA): Exploring Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of Educational Leadership in Jordan.

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to design a novel scale for measuring AI-driven pedagogical leadership agility, with a particular focus on its ethical and spiritual dimensions within educational leadership, and second, to evaluate the psychometric properties of this scale among secondary school administrators in Jordan. The primary aim was to provide a reliable and valid instrument to support leaders in navigating AI integration while maintaining ethical accountability and fostering spiritually informed leadership practices. The study proceeded in two main phases. Initially, the conceptual framework and item pool were developed based on a systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with educational experts. Subsequently, data were collected from a stratified random sample of 740 secondary school principals in Jordan, and construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), exploratory graph analysis (EGA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was assessed through Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, composite reliability, and test-retest stability, while convergent validity, discriminant validity, and measurement invariance across gender were also evaluated. The analyses revealed a robust five-factor structure underpinning the scale, consisting of 33 items distributed across Algorithmic Vision in Educational Leadership, Spiritual Visionary Leadership, Ethics and Algorithmic Transparency in AI-Enabled School Leadership, AI-Enabled Innovative Educational Leadership, and AI-Responsive Crisis Management Leadership. CFA confirmed excellent model fit, and reliability indices demonstrated strong internal consistency and stability. Among the dimensions, Spiritual Visionary Leadership and Ethics and Algorithmic Transparency showed the highest reliability and predictive importance. Overall, findings suggest that the AI-Driven Pedagogical Leadership Agility Scale (AIDPLA) is a valid and reliable tool for assessing leadership agility infused with ethical and spiritual considerations in the context of AI integration in Jordanian secondary education.