Empirical studies on principal leadership and educational achievement in the recent decades: From the perspective of “countries of origin”

This study aimed at synthesizing methodological features and substantive findings of some selected output in the field of educational leadership published from 1996 and onwards, i.e., since Hallinger and Heck’s comprehensive and conclusive reviews came out. Apart from examining methodological variety of the selections in terms of research design, sample, instrumentation, analytical approaches, strengths and limitations were also pinpointed. Further the main findings were synthesized, with the common themes extracted and discussed. As identified, the selected studies featured large samples, reliable instruments, and sophisticated analytical approaches, all which were well integrated with the research designs. The effects of principal leadership on school or student achievement through mediating variables, e.g., professional development, were identified in most studies. In a nutshell, this study outlined the recent development of empirical studies on educational leadership in line with their countries of origin. It added to the body of review literature a timely extension from both methodological and substantive perspectives. Copyright © 2013 Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong.