This study examines the leadership characteristics and skills of school principals who work within the franchise model framework. This model consists of a successful flagship school principal who is given the charge to be the principal of nearby schools while attempting to align practices and structures of the newly adopted schools to that of the…

Purpose: Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach that places great emphasis on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. This study explored the enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators. Design/methodology/approach: The participants in this qualitative study were 24 subject coordinators in…

Purpose: This study examines the relationship of principals' systems thinking (PST) to student outcomes of academic achievement and school violence. The investigation relies on the contingency theory, according to which effective leadership is contingent on the nature of the situational influences to which managers are exposed. Specifically, the…

Teacher leaders, despite their significant contributions to schools, are often undervalued and underutilized. Even with increased interest in the literature over the past few decades, there remains a lack of empirical studies, especially on informal teacher leaders who remain full-time classroom teachers while taking on extra duties. In light of…

Research regarding the practice of leaders' mindfulness has increased over the past several years. Emphasis on principals' mindfulness practices helped educational leaders become stronger during these uncertain and stressful times. Specifically, researching how principals use mindfulness in a school setting advances educational leadership by…

Relying on the contingency theory, the present study examines the influence of school characteristics and principal-teacher gender (dis)similarity on the relationship between principals' systems thinking (PST) and teacher withdrawal behaviours of absenteeism and intent to leave. Data were collected from two sources: 111 school management team…

Middle school scholars periodically lament the lack of holistic implementation of the middle school concept (Alverson et al., 2021; Dickinson & Butler, 2001; Lounsbury, 2013; Schaefer et al., 2016). The results of a case study conducted in Alberta, Canada (Rheaume, 2018) are compared to a recent examination of the current status of middle…

This qualitative case study assessed the need for a Catholic Education Center (CEC) for Catholic school principals within the United States. The research questions that were addressed were: 1) How have Catholic school principals experienced support around complex and controversial issues when conflicting viewpoints exist between school and Church…

The success of school communities and their stakeholders is determined by the leadership at the helm of the organization, as the arc of decision-making lies within their hands. Therefore, an analysis of principals' decision-making processes and their potential impact is of great significance. In the realm of decision-making, "systems thinking…

Researchers use data from the RAND American Mathematics Educator Study surveys of public school principals and teachers to investigate three school structures--referred to as "school opportunity structures" throughout this report--that may affect kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8) students' mathematics learning. These structures are…

This explanatory mixed methods research study was designed to utilize teacher perspectives to investigate methods by which principals develop and maintain teacher collective efficacy in their schools through enabling school structures. The research utilized quantitative surveys given to teachers in selected high schools followed by interviews with…

Purpose: This study explored a theoretical model proposing direct and mediated effects for principals' characteristics--principals' information-processing mechanisms (PIPMs) and instructional leadership (IL)--with organizational learning mechanisms (OLMs), for schools' OLMs with teachers' characteristics--teachers' affective commitment (TAC),…

Purpose: Digitalization has permeated society and schools. In this process, focus has turned to the importance of school leaders in their leadership for digitalization. The purpose of this paper is to explore how school leaders understand digitalization and the digital competencies needed in leading for digitalization in Swedish schools.…

Purpose: School leaders are central to the development of work-related ties among school staff. Although prior work has examined the predictors of the presence of work-related ties, little is known about the breakup or dissolution of ties among school staff. This study examines the extent of tie dissolution among school staff, as well as both the…

This article stems from a 2016 research project that examined the leadership experiences of 20 primary principals in greater Christchurch. The study was based on the belief that the nature of successful leadership needs to change in a post-disaster setting. The article focuses on what principals learned about leadership from these experiences,…