School leaders sit at a vital junction between policy and the lived experience of a classroom. Their choices influence culture, teacher growth, resource use and what a school notices about its children.
Research across education systems repeatedly points to leadership as one of the strongest school-level influences on learning after classroom teaching.
“But influence is not the same as individual heroism. Effective leaders build teams, distribute responsibility and create routines through which a school can learn from its own evidence.”
Investing in school leaders is therefore an investment in the organisational capacity that allows every other improvement to last.
