Transforming Education Leadership through Multiple Approaches to Develop and Support School Leadership

Abstract

This article elaborates on the multiple approaches to develop and support school leadership. In a 5-year quasi-experimental longitudinal mixed-methods study based on a sample of 122 schools in three regions in a German state, 75 school leaders and their teams participated in a 3-year program using multiple approaches; the rest served as the control group. The multiple approaches covered the school leaders’ (a) professional development, comprising (i) a professional development program, (ii) individual coaching series, and (b) support for them, including (iii) school consultancy and (iv) additional financial resources. The quality of the interventions (regarding both the process and didactic qualities, as well as outcome qualities) and how the quality of both the school leadership and the schools changes over time as a consequence of these interventions are analyzed. The study’s results show a highly positive assessment of the quality and advantages of the multiple approaches and their benefits for the quality of school leadership and further aspects of the school. The regression analyses demonstrate that positively perceived outcome qualities of the interventions are associated with improvements in numerous dimensions of school quality.