2012 Awards for Excellence

2012 Awards for Excellence

Article Type: 2012 Awards for Excellence From: International Journal of Educational Management, Volume 16, Issue 1.

The following article was selected for this year's Outstanding Paper Award for International Journal of Educational Management

“Exploring the impact of school leadership on pupil outcomes: Results from a study of academically improved and effective schools in England”

Pam Sammons, Qing Gu, Christopher Day and James Ko

AbstractPurpose - This study aims to explore the impact of school leadership, particularly that of the principal(head teacher), on school improvement in England.Design/methodology/approach - The study adopts a mixed-methods (MM),longitudinal design to investigate the leadership of a sample of academically effective and improving schools identified from analyses of national assessment and examination data sets. In addition, questionnaire surveys of principals and key staff and 20 qualitative school case studies were conducted. The paper reports results from the questionnaire analyses and changes in measures of school performance over three school years using data from 378 primary and 362 secondary schools. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models(SEM) test direct and indirect effects of school leadership and school and classroom processes in predicting changes in schools′ academic results.Findings- The analyses identified robust underlying dimensions of leadership and school and classroom processes and highlighted strategies and actions that school principals and staff had adopted to raise pupil attainment. The SEM models reveal both direct and indirect effects of leadership on a range of school and classroom processes that in turn predicted changes (improvements) in schools′academic performance. Originality/value - This original empirical study presents new results on the leadership of a large sample of effective and improving primary and secondary schools in England. A dynamic model is presented predicting changes in schools′ academic performance over three years and identifying direct effects of leadership on school and classroom processes and indirect effects on improvements in schools′ academic results.

This article originally appeared in Volume 25 Number 1, 2011, International Journal of Educational Management

The following articles were selected for this year's Highly Commended Award

“New look leaders or a new look at leadership?”

Scott Eacott

This article originally appeared in Volume 25 Number 1, 2011, International Journal of Educational Management

“Leadership and organisational performance: from research to prescription?”

Daniel Muijs

This article originally appeared in Volume 25 Number 1, 2011, International Journal of Educational Management

Outstanding Reviewers

Professor Geoffrey SoutarThe University of Western Australia, Australia

Dr Rona TuttPast President of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), UK