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Toward an evolving conceptualization of instructional leadership as leadership for learning: Meta-narrative review of 109 quantitative studies across 25 years

Jared Boyce (SRI International, Menlo Park, California, USA)
Alex J. Bowers (Department of Organization and Leadership, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA)

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN: 0957-8234

Article publication date: 5 December 2017

Issue publication date: 29 March 2018

3611

Abstract

Purpose

Instructional leadership has been an active area of educational administration research over the past 30 years. However, there has been significant divergence in how instructional leadership has been conceptualized over time. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of 25 years of quantitative instructional leadership research, up through 2013, using a nationally generalizable data set.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a meta-narrative review of 109 studies that investigated at least one aspect of instructional leadership using the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) administered by the US National Center for Education Statistics.

Findings

There were four major themes of instructional leadership research that analyzed SASS data: principal leadership and influence, teacher autonomy and influence, adult development, and school climate. The three factors most researched in relationship to instructional leadership themes were: teacher satisfaction, teacher commitment, and teacher retention. This study details the major findings within each theme, describes the relationships between all seven factors, and integrates the relationships into a single model.

Originality/value

This paper provides the most comprehensive literature review to-date of quantitative findings investigating instructional leadership from the same nationally generalizable data set. This paper provides evidence that leadership for learning is the conceptual evolution of 25 years of diverse instructional leadership research.

Keywords

Citation

Boyce, J. and Bowers, A.J. (2018), "Toward an evolving conceptualization of instructional leadership as leadership for learning: Meta-narrative review of 109 quantitative studies across 25 years", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 56 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-06-2016-0064

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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