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The purpose of this article is to outline how far the empirical evidence supports the centrality of leadership in the process of improving underperforming schools.

This article draws on evidence from a contemporary, selected, review of the literature.

The findings show that leadership is the critical factor in the improvement of underperforming schools. Seven new themes, derived from the selected evidence, are presented that illuminate how leaders secure improvement in the most challenging of school contexts.

This review is not a systematic review of the evidence and does not claim to be. It provides a commentary based on selected contemporary evidence and therefore is not comprehensive account of all the relevant evidence pertaining to leading the improvement of underperforming schools. The evidence is derived from sources written in English; therefore, it is fully acknowledged that other sources, in other languages might exist but are not included or reflected.

The practical implications are clearly laid out in the form of seven key themes about leading the improvement of underperforming schools that are of direct practical use.

With so many schools in high poverty areas finding themselves in difficulty, this contemporary review provides new insights about the leadership approaches and practices that continue to make a considerable difference to underperforming schools.

Post-COVID-19, public K–12 schools are still facing the consequences of the years of interrupted learning. Schools serving minoritized students are particularly at risk for facing challenges with academics, behavior and student social emotional health. The university counseling programs are in positions to build capacity in urban schools while also supporting counselors-in-training through service-learning opportunities.

The following conceptual manuscript demonstrates how counselor education counseling programs and public schools can harness the capacity-building benefits of university–school partnerships. While prevalent in fields like special education, counselor educators have yet to heed the hall to participate in mutually beneficial partnership programs.

Using the multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and the components of the university–school partnerships, counselor educators and school stakeholders can work together to support student mental health, school staff well-being and counselor-in-training competence.

The benefits and opportunities within the university–school partnerships are well documented. However, few researchers have described a model to support partnerships between the university counseling programs and urban elementary schools. We provide a best practice model using the principles of university–school partnerships and a school’s existing MTSS framework.

This study examines the deployment of excellent retired principals (ERPs) as system leaders to facilitate systemic professional capital building in Taipei City, Taiwan. It explores the unique approach of the Taipei City government and contributions of ERPs in driving educational reforms.

This study combines the perspectives of system leadership and professional capital, and analyzes the roles and practices of ERPs in promoting professional capital in Taipei's local education system. It draws on qualitative data gathered through interviews and document analyses.

The findings reveal that the Taipei City government adopted a systemic approach by appointing designated retired principals as system leaders. The findings are categorized into three themes. ERPs serve as systemic capacity-builders, enhancing leadership across the local education system; ERPs act as collaborators and bridge-builders, fostering joint work and a collective sense of professional responsibility; and ERPs function as facilitators and advisors, cultivating decisional capital by providing informed decision-making support based on their experiences and wisdom. These roles challenge the notion of late-career decline, highlight the ongoing contributions of ERPs to the education system, and extend professional capital beyond teacher development, influencing system-wide collective capacity-building, collective responsibility, and policy enactments.

This study contributes to understanding how exceptional retired principals can drive systemic reform and build systemic professional capital. It expands previous research by highlighting the unique Chinese cultural context in Taipei City and continued contributions of retired principals to the education system.

The evolution and trends of special education and educational leadership are evident, especially in recent years. The former has strived to provide equitable educational opportunities to students with disabilities. The latter has dealt with how people in positions of authority in K-12 schools create policy, use resources, and influence other people to achieve educational goals. Together, these notions constitute an idea that school leaders and administrators can provide insight, oversight, assistance, and guidance toward creating educational environments for students with and without disabilities. This chapter examines the current state of special education and educational leadership by exploring the evolution of special education, relevant legal cases, and the enactment of inclusive education. Furthermore, this chapter addresses contemporary issues for leaders, such as the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, while dealing with special education and the increasing pressure from families for equity for students with disabilities.

By adopting the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), Cambodia has experienced various precarious progress and challenges in implementing inclusive education due to the rudimentary inclusion concept prevalent in the country. This chapter denotes updates on the progress of policy implementation, progress of inclusive education programmes by sub-sectors, progress of pre-service and in-service teacher training, and challenges of inclusion at school levels. Moreover, it deliberates the perspectives and implications of effective inclusion with a focus on policy support, teacher education reform, availability of data, and monitoring and evaluation paradigm to achieving Agenda 2030 in Cambodia.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of teachers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the relationship between principals' perceived distributed leadership and organizational learning capability in schools.

The study employs a quantitative research design and a survey methodology. Data were collected from 400 teachers in Bahrain.

The results reveal that teachers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation fully mediates the relationship between principals' perceived distributed leadership and organizational learning capability in schools.

The study contributes to the literature on distributed leadership, organizational learning and motivation by highlighting the important mediating role of teachers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the relationship between principals' perceived distributed leadership and organizational learning capability. The study also has practical implications for school administrators by suggesting that distributed leadership practices can be an effective strategy for promoting organizational learning capability in schools.