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Education Sciences
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Empowering Educators: Strengthening Instructional Leadership in Schools
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Empowering Educators: Strengthening Instructional Leadership in Schools

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Teacher Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2025) | Viewed by 4000

Special Issue Editor

Dr. David Litz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Education, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, V2N 4Z9, Canada
Interests: comparative education; cross-cultural understandings of leadership and management; educational administration; educational development; educational equity; educational leadership; educational policy; globalization and education; international development; leadership preparation; school leadership and management; social justice

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Empowering educators through instructional leadership is crucial in today's complex educational landscape. Effective instructional leaders create a positive school climate, empower educators, foster professional learning communities, and provide meaningful feedback and support to teachers. By doing so, they not only enhance teacher effectiveness but also improve student achievement. However, despite its significance, instructional leadership is often underemphasized or misunderstood in educational practice and policy.

Aim and Scope

The Special Issue "Empowering Educators: Strengthening Instructional Leadership in Schools" aims to explore the multifaceted dimensions of instructional leadership and its impact on empowering educators to enhance student learning outcomes. This issue seeks to examine innovative practices, challenges, and strategies related to instructional leadership in various educational settings, including K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and alternative learning environments.

Contributions to this issue may include original research articles, case studies, literature reviews, and theoretical discussions that offer new insights, perspectives, and practical implications for strengthening instructional leadership and empowering educators in diverse educational contexts. The overarching goal is to advance the field of educational leadership by promoting a deeper understanding of how instructional leadership can be leveraged to improve teaching and learning outcomes.

Suggested themes to be addressed include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Conceptualizations of instructional leadership and its role in school improvement.
  • Strategies for developing and sustaining effective instructional leadership practices.
  • The impact of instructional leadership on teacher motivation, job satisfaction, and professional development.
  • The relationship between instructional leadership and student achievement.
  • Challenges and barriers to effective instructional leadership implementation. 

Dr. David Litz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • instructional leadership
  • empowering educators
  • school improvement
  • professional development
  • teacher effectiveness
  • student achievement
  • educational leadership
  • school climate 

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 804 KiB  
Article
Middle Leadership Roles Questionnaire—School Edition (Catalan) (MLRQ-SE-CAT) as an Instrument to Study the Roles and Practices of Cycle Coordinators as Middle Leaders
by Aleix Olondriz-Valverde and Isabel del Arco
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 576; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15050576 - 6 May 2025
Viewed by 121
Abstract
The leadership exerted by teachers, outside the management roles in education centers, is defined as middle leadership. There is a lack of instruments to identify their practices and roles in non-English speaking countries. The aim of the present study was to report the [...] Read more.
The leadership exerted by teachers, outside the management roles in education centers, is defined as middle leadership. There is a lack of instruments to identify their practices and roles in non-English speaking countries. The aim of the present study was to report the validation of an adapted version of the MLRQ-SE by De Nobile, named MLRQ-SE-CAT. By means of a process of translation and validation by a panel of experts, a pilot questionnaire was applied to a sample of 414 cycle coordinators in Primary Schools of the Catalan education system. The results show a high degree of validity (CFI = 0.950; TLI = 0.915; RMSEA = 0.061) and reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.83), thus validating a new instrument for measuring middle leadership in similar education systems. The instrument allows us to detect 6 roles and 33 practices that teachers exert in their role as middle leaders. There is a correlation between roles, especially between the Strategic Role and the roles of Administration and Management. MLRQ-SE-CAT allows identifying the habitual practices and roles of middle leaders in an educational context, where they are becoming increasingly important. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Empowering Educators: Strengthening Instructional Leadership in Schools)
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19 pages, 321 KiB  
Article
Relationship Between School Leadership, Academic Dispositions, and Student Academic Performance: Meaning Making of PISA 2022 Results
by Tasneem Amatullah, David Litz, Aysha Alshamsi and Shaljan Areepattamannil
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 436; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15040436 - 30 Mar 2025
Viewed by 509
Abstract
School leadership plays a critical role in shaping student academic performance. Despite the UAE’s recognition as one of the leading nations globally for quality education, research on the impact of leadership practices on performance in international assessments like PISA remains scarce. This study [...] Read more.
School leadership plays a critical role in shaping student academic performance. Despite the UAE’s recognition as one of the leading nations globally for quality education, research on the impact of leadership practices on performance in international assessments like PISA remains scarce. This study explores the influence of school leadership on students’ performance in the UAE’s schools. The PISA 2022 UAE database containing data on 24,600 15-year-old students across 840 schools was used to assess mathematical literacy based on their ability to apply math concepts and their attitudes toward the subject. Insights into leadership practices were utilized using responses from school principals in the PISA 2022 school leaders’ questionnaire. The results demonstrate that leadership practices significantly influence student outcomes. Schools where leaders emphasize teacher accountability and professional development show improved mathematics performance, lower anxiety levels, and enhanced self-efficacy among students. Conversely, excessive focus on disciplinary measures or teaching skill improvements is associated with reduced student self-efficacy. These findings highlight the importance of adaptive leadership approaches that consider local educational contexts, balancing accountability and support to optimize both student performance and well-being. By refining leadership practices, schools can drive meaningful improvements in student success and better equip learners to thrive in global educational benchmarks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Empowering Educators: Strengthening Instructional Leadership in Schools)
28 pages, 10164 KiB  
Article
Promoting High Achievement for Disadvantaged Students: Co-Designing a School Self-Evaluation Process Aligned to Evidence of Successful Leadership Practice Across Five English Districts
by Maria Cockerill, Tom Grieveson, Stephanie Bingham and Joanne O’Keeffe
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(1), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15010052 - 7 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1259
Abstract
Equity of education outcomes for all children continues to be a shared goal amongst education leaders, post-pandemic. In England, issues of underachievement are of particular concern in socio-economically disadvantaged regions. Nevertheless, a minority of schools demonstrate high achievement for students from high-poverty backgrounds. [...] Read more.
Equity of education outcomes for all children continues to be a shared goal amongst education leaders, post-pandemic. In England, issues of underachievement are of particular concern in socio-economically disadvantaged regions. Nevertheless, a minority of schools demonstrate high achievement for students from high-poverty backgrounds. This paper reports on the process of co-designing a school self-evaluation tool aligned to seven key indicators which previous research findings suggest, if implemented together, enable school leaders to promote high academic achievement and well-being for all children. Guided by social interdependence theory, successful local school leaders worked collaboratively, supported by education researchers, to develop self-evaluation tools and peer-support structures. Together, they created the ‘High Achievement Review Programme’ (HARP). We discuss the co-design process of HARP, including the developed evaluation tools for schools. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Empowering Educators: Strengthening Instructional Leadership in Schools)
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Review

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25 pages, 3938 KiB  
Review
Investigating the Relationship Between Leadership for Learning and Student Achievement Through the Mediation of Teacher Performance: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling (MASEM) Approach
by Stamatios Papadakis, Sedat Kanadlı, Abdurrahman Kardas, Tijen Tülübaş, Turgut Karakose and Hakan Polat
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(12), 1320; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14121320 - 30 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1343
Abstract
The Leadership for Learning (LfL) framework is often used to investigate the effect of leadership on student achievement (SA). This framework encompasses instructional leadership (IL), transformational leadership (TL), and distributed leadership (DL) qualities that are likely to influence teaching–learning processes at school. The [...] Read more.
The Leadership for Learning (LfL) framework is often used to investigate the effect of leadership on student achievement (SA). This framework encompasses instructional leadership (IL), transformational leadership (TL), and distributed leadership (DL) qualities that are likely to influence teaching–learning processes at school. The existing literature indicates that LfL can influence both teacher performance and practices and students’ achievement significantly. The current study aims to investigate the mediating role of teacher performance in the relationship between LfL and student achievement using meta-analytical structural equation modeling (MASEM). Correlation values obtained from 60 studies (a total of 36,331 participants) investigating the relationship between these variables were used for the meta-analysis. The findings showed that all three types of leadership affected teacher performance directly, and teacher performance had a direct effect on student achievement. While the effect of IL on SA was mostly indirect, TL and DL were found to affect student achievement both directly and indirectly through teacher performance. Our findings suggest significant implications for not only researchers but also policy-makers and practitioners to improve school performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Empowering Educators: Strengthening Instructional Leadership in Schools)
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