Future-ready school leadership: Construct clarification, development, and validation of a new measurement instrument

This study aims to develop and validate the Future-Ready School Leadership Instrument (FRSLI), a psychometrically robust instrument that measures the multifaceted dimensions of effective school leadership in an era of rapid change and uncertainty. Three independent studies were conducted to evaluate the FRSLI's psychometric properties: Study 1 used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify the underlying factor structure; Study 2 employed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to assess construct, convergent, and discriminant validity, measurement invariance, and nomological validity; and Study 3 tested criterion-related and incremental validity by examining the FRSLI's predictive power for organizational learning culture both independently and after controlling for transformational leadership. The FRSLI demonstrated sound psychometric properties, identifying four key components of future-ready school leadership: strategic foresight, addressing difference and diversity, technology leadership, and systems thinking. The final 15-item instrument demonstrated high internal consistency and explained a substantial proportion of the variance in the construct. CFA confirmed the four-factor structure, and SEM endorsed its nomological network in relation to transformational leadership. Notably, after statistically controlling for the transformational leadership construct, the FRSLI uniquely predicted teachers’ perceptions of organizational learning culture, underscoring its value as a salient measurement construct. Copyright © 2026 The Author(s).