Strategic leadership, resource management and effective school reform

Abstract

A feature of school reform around the world has been the systematic decentralization to the school level of authority, responsibility and accountability within a centrally-determined framework of curriculum, policy, priorities and standards. Indeed, it is now hard to find a nation where changes along these lines have not taken place or are planned or are proposed (see Caldwell, 1994; 1998; Whitty et al., 1998 for an account of driving and constraining forces). How these changes have impacted on the professional actions and cultures of teachers and their leaders is of critical importance, as is the extent to which they have had impact on learning outcomes.