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Collective Leadership Effects on Student Achievement

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, kleithwood{at}oise.utoronto.ca

Blair Mascall

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto

Purpose: This study aimed to estimate the impact of collective, or shared, leadership on key teacher variables and on student achievement. As well, it inquired about the relative contribution of different sources of such leadership and whether differences among patterns of collective leadership were related to differences in student achievement.

Methods: Evidence included 2,570 teacher responses from 90 elementary and secondary schools in which four or more teachers completed usable surveys. Student achievement data in language and math averaged over 3 years were acquired through school Web sites. Data were analyzed using path-analytic techniques.

Findings: Collective leadership explained a significant proportion of variation in student achievement across schools. Higher-achieving schools awarded leadership influence to all school members and other stakeholders to a greater degree than that of lower-achieving schools. These differences were most significant in relation to the leadership exercised by school teams, parents, and students. Principals were awarded the highest levels of influence in schools at all levels of achievement.

Implications: Influence seems to be an infinite resource in schools. The more those in formal leadership roles give it away, the more they acquire.

Key Words: shared leadership • distributed leadership • student achievement • influence

This version was published on October 1, 2008

Educational Administration Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 4, 529-561 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0013161X08321221


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