Research and analysis

Seven strong claims about successful school leadership

Thinking about what makes a successful school leader is your first step to becoming one.

From:
National College for Teaching and Leadership
Published
1 June 2006

Documents

Seven strong claims about successful school leadership

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Details

This report summarises what makes a successful school leader:

  • school leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning
  • almost all successful leaders draw on the same basic leadership practices
  • the ways in which leaders apply these basic leadership practices show responsiveness to the contexts in which they work
  • school leaders improve teaching and learning most powerfully through their influence on staff motivation, commitment and working conditions
  • school leadership has a greater influence on schools and students when it is widely distributed
  • some patterns of distribution are more effective than others
  • a small handful of personal traits explains a high proportion of the variation in leadership effectiveness

This is an invaluable starting point for any study of leadership.

The report 10 strong claims about successful school leadership confirms, qualifies and builds on these original claims.

Published 1 June 2006

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