Collaborative leadership effects on school capacity and student learning

Researchers have persisted in framing leadership as the driver for change and performance improvement in schools despite convincing theoretical commentary that proposes leadership as a process of reciprocal interaction. Although conceptualizing leadership as a reciprocal process offers leverage for understanding leadership effects on learning, methodological constraints have limited empirical tests of this model. This report focuses on understanding the contribution that changes in collaborative leadership and the school’s capacity for educational improvement make on growth in student learning. We compare longitudinal, unidirectional and reciprocal-effects models focusing on change in leadership and learning in 195 elementary schools over a four-year period. The results support a reciprocal-effects model which conceptualizes leadership within a changing, mutually-reinforcing system of organizational relationships. Copyright © 2010 The Authors.