Special Journal Issue

Special Journal Issues (2012) Papers From Asia Leadership Roundtable 2010 School Effectiveness and School Improvement

Theme	School Leadership that Makes a Difference: international perspectives This theme issue is drawn from a set of papers presented at the Asia Leadership Roundtable, held in Hong Kong in January 2010. The purpose of the Roundtable was to explore the state of the art in research on school leadership and change and to develop an agenda for accelerating the development of empirically-based knowledge in the Asia Pacific region. With this purpose in mind, leading scholars, selected both from the region and globally, presented papers that sought to map both existing knowledge in the field, unique challenges facing education in the region, and promising approaches to conceptualizing and carrying our empirical research. This special issue presents a subset of papers that describe promising approaches to conceptualizing and carrying our empirical research. While the papers were written with the Asia Leadership Roundtable in mind, the issues and recommendations addressed in the papers are not specific to the region but rather pertain to the development of the field globally.

Issue Objectives	1. To examine state-of-the art approaches to conceptualizing the study of school leadership 2. To explore how new conceptions of leadership and change are impacting policy, research and practice 3. To examine how the cultural context of schools impacts leadership and school effectiveness 4. To identify state-of-the-art methods in the conduct of empirical research on key issues in school leadership and change

Issue Co-Editors		Professor Philip Hallinger TSDF Chair Professor of Leadership College of Management, Mahidol University Thailand Senior Research Fellow Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change The Education University of Hong Kong China : hallinger@gmail.com	Professor Stephan Huber Teacher Training University of Central Switzerland, Switzerland Senior Research Fellow Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change The Education University of Hong Kong China : stephan.huber@phz.ch

Contributors	Professor Philip Hallinger TSDF Chair Professor of Leadership College of Management, Mahidol University Thailand Senior Research Fellow Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change The Education University of Hong Kong China : hallinger@gmail.com Professor Stephan Huber Maren Hiltmann University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland (PHZ) Zug Switzerland Senior Research Fellow Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change The Education University of Hong Kong China : stephan.huber@phz.ch School Effectiveness and School Improvement: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2012.681508 Abstract This special theme issue of School Effectiveness and School Improvement examines trends in thinking about how school leadership makes a difference in schools around the world. The introduction to this special issue first places this topic and the relevant articles in a historical context. Then the editors offer brief descriptions of the articles highlighting their contributions to the overall theme.
	Dr. Henry May University of Pennsylvania USA Dr. Jason Huff University of Tennessee USA Professor Ellen Goldring Vanderbilt University, Nashville USA A longitudinal study of principals' activities and student performance DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2012.678866 Abstract Although a substantial amount of research on school leadership has focused on what principals may do to improve teaching and learning, little of this research has explored how principals’ time spent on leadership activities may relate to and possibly affect student performance. This article presents results from a 3-year longitudinal study of principal activities and student performance. A 3-level HLM growth model (with test scores nested within students, and students nested within schools) was employed to determine the degree to which principals’ activities were associated with student performance at baseline, and changes in student performance over time. Results suggest that principals’ activities are remarkably variable over time, that specific leadership activities are more prevalent in some school contexts, and that specific changes in leadership activities over time (e.g., increasing time on instructional leadership) do not predict changes in student performance in a consistent manner across schools.
	Dr. Dora Ho The Education University of Hong Kong China Professor Leon Paul Tikly University of Bristol UK *Conceptualizing teacher leadership in a Chinese, policy-driven context: a research agenda* DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2012.678861 Abstract In recent years, the Western discourse on distributed leadership has attracted increased attention in Chinese societies that have traditionally relied on highly centralized administrative systems in which power is located in the person of the school principal or other unit leader. This article explores the implications of applying the concept of distributed leadership in a Chinese context and outlines a research agenda for future work in this area. The article focuses specifically on teacher leadership in early childhood education in Hong Kong as an illustrative case. It suggests that change agentry, collaboration, collegiality, power, and authority are key aspects of discourse on teacher leadership in a Chinese, policy-driven context. It is argued that existing studies of leadership have failed to recognize the complexity of employing teacher leadership in hierarchical, policy-driven, high power distance, collectivist cultural contexts.
	Professor Moosung Lee University of Canberra Australia Professor Philip Hallinger Mahidol University & The Education University of Hong Kong Thailand & China National contexts influencing principals’ time use: Economic development, societal culture, and educational system. DOI:10.1080/09243453.2012.678862 Abstract This study examines the impact of macro-context factors on the behavior of school principals. More specifically, the article illuminates how a nation's level of economic development, societal culture, and educational system influence the amount of time principals devote to their job role and shape their allocation of time to instructional leadership, administration, and management of relationships with parents and community. The study employed a 2-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) to analyze data on 5,927 principals in 34 societies drawn from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006. The results support the proposition that principal time use and allocation varies substantially across societies and that these patterns of behavior are influenced by economic, sociocultural and institutional features of their societies. The study contributes to a growing body of research that seeks to understand how the practice of school leadership is shaped by the organizational and cultural context.
	Professor Erik E.J. Thoonen University of Amsterdam The Netherlands Professor Peter J.C. Sleegers University of Twente The Netherlands Professor Frans J. Oort University of Amsterdam The Netherlands Dr. Thea T.D. Peetsma University of Amsterdam The Netherlands Building school-wide capacity for improvement: the role of leadership, school organizational conditions, and teacher factors DOI:10.1080/09243453.2012.678867 Abstract Education policies for greater accountability of schools assume that schools are capable of building their capacity for continuous improvement. While policymakers, scholars, and practitioners acknowledge the importance of building school-wide capacity for continuous improvement, empirical evidence to this effect remains thin. In this study, we examine the extent to which school improvement capacity develops over time in a sample of elementary schools in The Netherlands. Leadership practices, school organizational conditions, teacher motivation, and teacher learning were used to measure school-wide capacity for improvement. Mixed-model analysis of longitudinal data from 1,010 teachers of 32 Dutch elementary schools showed that schools are capable of building schoolwide capacity, and that sustaining a high level of capacity seemed to be more difficult. The findings suggest that improving leadership may be an important first step in the process of building school-wide capacity.
	Professor Allan Walker The Education University of Hong Kong China Dr. Rongkun Hu Beijing Institute of Education China Dr. Haiyan Qian The Education University of Hong Kong China Principal leadership in China: an initial review DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2012.678863 Abstract This article reviews the literature on Chinese principalship written in English and Chinese between 1998 and 2008. The first sections discuss the rationale for the research, the review process, and the state of education research in mainland China. The review findings are presented as a set of core patterns and contributory subpatterns, which flow from either the empirical or non-empirical literature. Two core patterns are identified from the non-empirical pieces – prescriptions and commentaries. Prescriptions focus on telling principals what they need to do to be successful, especially in the present reform environment. Commentaries focus on the key concerns and problems confronting principals. Three core patterns can be discerned from the empirical pieces – imported frameworks, indigenous investigations, and contextual influences. The final section offers a number of conclusions that look within and across the core patterns and pose questions to guide further research.