Background: In the era of digital transformation, primary schools, as the most fundamental educational institutions, require principals equipped with digital competencies and teachers demonstrating superior professional performance. However, the mechanism through which principals' digital leadership influences teacher performance—particularly the mediating role of school digital culture—remains shrouded in ambiguity, creating a theoretical gap within the educational leadership literature.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of school digital culture in the relationship between principals' digital leadership and teacher performance among primary school teachers in Sanandaj, Iran.

Methodology: This research employed a descriptive-correlational design with an emphasis on structural equation modeling. The study population comprised primary school teachers in Sanandaj, from which a sample of 404 participants was selected using Westland's method and proportional stratified random sampling. Data were collected through three questionnaires: the Digital Leadership Scale (Abu et al., 2025), the School Digital Culture Scale (adapted from Lee & Louis, 2019), and the Teacher Performance Scale (Hayat et al., 2025). The validity and reliability of the instruments were confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. Data were analyzed using LISREL software and structural equation modeling techniques.

Findings: The results revealed a direct and significant effect of principals' digital leadership on teacher performance. Furthermore, digital leadership demonstrated a significant direct effect on school digital culture, which in turn exerted a significant direct effect on teacher performance. The mediating role of school digital culture in the digital leadership–teacher performance relationship was also confirmed. Collectively, the research model accounted for thirty-three percent of the variance in teacher performance.

Conclusion: These findings underscore the necessity of simultaneously attending to the development of digital leaders and the reinforcement of digital culture in primary schools as two sides of the same coin in digital transformation initiatives