Educational leadership research has long highlighted the roles and functions of school principals. More recently, research has investigated leadership activity and impact at different levels in and across schools – from classrooms to central agencies. At the same time, there is widespread agreement that the multiple contexts within which schools operate play a significant role in how leaders shape their practice to positively influence student learning. However, there are too few sustained attempts which consciously connect research across these established and emerging subfields.
As a result, our understandings of how successful leadership plays out and impacts student learning within complex organizational environments remains unfinished.
Authors
James Spillane
Professor In Learning and Organizational Change, Northwestern University
James P. (Jim) Spillane is the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change at Northwestern University where he is a Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, Learning Sciences, and Management & Organizations. Spillane’s work explores relations between government policy and local practice at the school district, school, and classroom levels.
Richard Paquin Morel
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Pittsburgh
Richard Paquin Morel is a post-doctoral research associate at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. He studies the development and implementation of educational policies.
Asmaa Al-Fadala
Director of Research and Content Development, WISE
Dr. Asmaa Al-Fadala is the director of research and content development at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). She has twenty years of professional experience in schools as well as higher education. Asmaa was an associate policy analyst at the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute.
Research Organization
