Leadership is second only to teaching among in-school influences on student success, and its impact is greatest in schools with the greatest needs, according to this landmark examination of the evidence on school leadership.

Decades of research, the authors suggest, support the notion that those who seek to improve schools should focus not just on teachers but also on principals and administrators. School leaders should, among other things, be able to set clear direction, establish high expectations, and develop talent in their schools to fully support teaching and learning.

Drawing on both detailed case studies and large-scale quantitative analysis, the authors show that the majority of school variables, considered individually, have at most a small impact on learning. The real payoff comes when individual variables combine to reach critical mass. Creating the conditions under which that can occur—such as a positive school culture combined with appropriate professional development for teachers—is the job of the principal. The study finds that taken together, direct and indirect effects of school leadership account for about a quarter of total school effects.

The authors further suggest that success in the absence of leadership is difficult. The researchers found “virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader.”

 Points of Interest

  • Direct and indirect effects of leadership on student learning account for about a quarter of total school effects.
    About a quarter of #student achievement is attributable to the school’s #leadership. #education
  • Research shows that demonstrated effects of successful leadership are considerably greater in schools that are in more difficult circumstances. Several other factors may help turn around struggling schools, but leadership is the necessary catalyst.
    Many factors can help turn around struggling #schools, but #leadership is the key catalyst. #education
  • School leaders must meet two goals to make schools more effective: provide a defensible set of directions and influence people to move in those directions.
    To make #schools more effective, leaders must provide clear direction/help staffers move in that direction. #education
  • Recent evidence challenges the conventional wisdom of leadership development initiatives, which tend to attempt to be all things to all leaders or refuse to acknowledge differences in practices required in varying contexts. Being the principal of a large secondary school, for example, requires quite different capacities than serving the same role in a small elementary school.
    One size does not fit all in #education. Different types of #schools need different types of school #leaders.

 Supplementary Materials