School improvement and initiative success relies on the teamwork of teachers and their head teacher. Addressing early career school leader attrition and turnover, this study examines the underexplored topic of teacher influences on novice principal (NP) socialization. To fill gaps in the literature, teachers and NPs were interviewed, with 78 total interviews thematically analyzed. Socialization outcomes were assessed by measuring changes in person–group (P-G) compatibility and congruence. Findings align with literature describing school leadership as fraught with conflicts between teacher demands and system expectations. NPs faced pressure from teachers to maintain the status quo, despite personal desires and systemic expectations for change. Socialization tactics and P-G fit theory were integrated to explain teacher effects, discuss NP outcomes, recommend improvements, and critically reflect on the theories. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, individualized socialization in this context promoted conservatism, while institutionalized socialization unexpectedly fostered innovation. Findings also suggest that fit potential can be gauged early, and that help-seeking can facilitate P-G fit improvement. Finally, leadership theory is updated with an example of when social identity must be cultivated before visionary leadership can succeed.
This article reviews Improving Schools to assess the journal’s distinctive contributions within the school improvement literature and the extent to which its positioning has supported cumulative knowledge development. Using bibliometric and systematic review methods, the study analyzes the journal’s full corpus published between 1998 and 2025. Patterns of authorship, citation distribution, publication type, topical organization, and journal co-citation relationships are examined to evaluate the journal’s intellectual profile and scholarly influence. The findings indicate that Improving Schools has evolved into a broad, practice-oriented forum whose inclusive positioning has not consistently translated into consolidated lines of inquiry. The journal addresses a wide range of educational problems across diverse contexts, yet its citation profile remains modest and less consolidated than that of journals more firmly anchored in established disciplinary and school improvement research traditions. Topical analyses show that the journal is organized around school improvement as a broad, integrative construct rather than around clearly identifiable thematic clusters. Co-word and journal co-citation analyses situate Improving Schools within a diverse and weakly consolidated segment of the education literature, reflecting its bridging role across research- and practice-oriented traditions. The review concludes by reflecting on the implications of these patterns for readers, prospective authors, and editorial strategy as the journal seeks to strengthen integrative linkages within its distinctive improvement-oriented mission.
More than 60% of the world speak two or more languages. Therefore, it is important that classroom environments promote multilingual children’s listening, learning, and wellbeing. The aim of this paper was to understand how the classroom environment impacts listening, learning, and wellbeing for school children who are multilingual, how it can be improved, and identify future research areas. A scoping review centred around the terms of the Listen to Learn for Life Assessment Framework was conducted following the PRISMA-ScR. Fourteen papers met the criteria to be included. The results showed SNRs should be optimised to enhance multilingual children’s listening and learning. Visually, findings were mixed, but it may be beneficial to incorporate visual cues where possible to aid listening. The results were inconclusive on whether multilingual children are at a disadvantage compared to monolingual children, but factors such as differences in the task, chronological age, age of language acquisition, and socio-economic status are likely to contribute to these mixed findings. Future research to improve our understanding of how to make optimal classroom environments for multilingual children to succeed is discussed.
This paper presents measurements of identity grafting (IG) theory to support the study of the associations between identity formation processes and teaching practices (TPs). Drawing on Hong Kong survey data, this study operationalizes four IG processes (blending, balancing, repressing, and reversing) and five pedagogical TPs (learning, assessment, motivation, discipline, and diversity). The instrumentation adapts acculturation and OECD instruments, using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the constructs. Factor analyses show that IG comprises four distinct but correlated dimensions. While the OECD assumed unidimensional TPs, the results indicate that a bifactor model better represents TPs in this Hong Kong sample. The SEM further reveals that blending and balancing are positively associated with diverse TPs, whereas reversing is negatively associated with diverse TPs. Notably, diverse TPs are positively associated with repressing. Rigorous instrumentation should accommodate the complexity of topics regarding negotiating identity, diversity, and educational change by (1) balancing theoretical and empirical criteria of reliability and validity, (2) maintaining value-neutrality when explaining how theoretical constructs might operationalize as variables, while recognizing that their manifestations as specific outcomes may have positive/negative associations, and (3) examining the forward and reversed path associations.
This article analyzes teachers’ perceptions of the characteristics and functions of feedback across different assessment situations in secondary education. Participants were fifteen History and Social Sciences teachers employed in private, fee-paying, and state-subsidized schools in Chile. An individual interview protocol was developed around the following dimensions: meaning, assessment situations, purpose, organization, strategies/actions, factors, and better feedback practice. The protocol was applied to ascertain its capacity to capture perceptions of feedback practices. Interviews were coded using deductive qualitative content analysis. Results indicate that feedback primarily focuses on teachers’ actions with limited student participation. It combines evaluative feedback identifying strengths and errors and descriptive feedback supporting learning through questions, instrument-guided comments, and criteria addressing content and cross-cutting aspects. The interview protocol proved suitable for probing perceptions of feedback practice, enabling detailed description. Findings underscore the need to strengthen dialogic and participatory feedback oriented toward the systematic use of information to enhance learning. The study concludes by underscoring the need to advance iterative feedback cycles and to investigate the use of assessment instruments as scaffolds, together with strategies that promote students’ active participation in feedback.
Teacher-education programmes increasingly turn to AI to personalise learning, yet many designs still inherit assumptions from learning-styles (LS) models. This review synthesises 63 empirical studies from Scopus and Web of Science using a PRISMA-guided process to clarify what LS research in teacher education shows and how these insights should redirect AI-enabled personalisation. We find widespread declared support for LS (77.4% of studies) alongside limited comparative testing against alternative frameworks (51.6%), and substantial heterogeneity of instruments and methods that undermines comparability. Notably, the intersection of “personalised learning” and LS is comparatively small, suggesting a weak empirical basis for LS-driven personalisation. Concerns about LS as a neuromyth, and calls to bridge neuroscience and educational practice, recur across the corpus; the literature also points to conceptual-change strategies that can reduce erroneous beliefs among pre- and in-service teachers. Taken together, the evidence does not support style-matched instruction. We therefore argue for AI-enabled personalisation anchored in observable performance, strategy use, and self-regulation, with transparent evidence pipelines and attention to workload and equity. This contribution reframes personalisation for teacher preparation beyond fixed style labels and outlines a realistic route for school improvement in an AI-intensive educational landscape.
Interest in teachers’ assessment literacy (AL) is growing in China. However, research into AL of senior high school teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) is generally lacking. The present exploratory research attempts to probe the issue. 257 teacher participants from secondary schools across China responded to a survey of AL predicated on the Standards . Rasch analysis revealed that the teachers met with great challenges in completing the survey. They performed relatively better at items and standards that were closely related to their daily work, for example administering and scoring tests, but worse at the items that were involved some forms of specialized knowledge, for example reliability, performance data interpretation, and so forth. Overall, teachers performed slightly better at test-related items than assessment-related items. The association between AL and demographic variables seemed to be weak. The underperformance of the secondary teachers points to a gap between what was expected of them and what was possessed by them in respect of classroom assessment knowledge on the one hand, and on the other, a potential mismatch between the Standards and the actual competencies required for effective assessment practice in Chinese context. The study has implications for secondary teachers’ AL development and training.
This article focuses on voices of parents of students who attend Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA), a unique, public charter school designed to address social, emotional, and academic needs of LGBTQ students and others. Authors conducted a focus group of parents of MCAA students to explore parents’ perceptions of their children’s school experiences before and after enrolling at MCAA. Parents overwhelmingly expressed positive comments and observations about their children’s experiences at MCAA. Emergent themes indicated that: Concern for the psychological and physical safety drew parents to MCAA , whether the threat to student safety came from others in their environment or through potential self-harm; Parents perceived MCAA to be a unique school and learning environment , especially in how faculty and staff members addressed social and academic needs of LGBTQ students and others; and Parents identified positive outcomes for their children at MCAA , noting the positive impact the school has had on their children. Implications for all school practitioners are discussed, encouraging school leaders to incorporate opportunities to listen to parents, face-to-face, to gain insights into what areas of their school life might be supported and enhanced to ensure a positive school experience, not just for LGBTQ students, but for all. Finally, the authors provide implications for future researchers.
Limited research has explored how family-school relationships can buffer the negative effects of family adversity on students’ behavioral and emotional functioning in the classroom. Drawing on ecological resilience theory, this study investigates the relationship between student exposure to family adversity and adjustment difficulties in school and examines whether family engagement moderates this association. Data were collected from third-grade teachers ( N = 236) across six elementary schools implementing a trauma-informed, culturally responsive family engagement program. Teachers reported on students’ adjustment difficulties, family adversity, and family engagement using the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation (TOCA). Results indicated that family adversity was positively associated with student adjustment difficulties, whereas family engagement was negatively associated with these difficulties. Contrary to expectations, family engagement moderated the association such that higher levels of engagement were linked to a stronger relationship between adversity and adjustment difficulties. These findings highlight the complex role of family-school engagement in contexts of adversity and underscore the importance of considering teacher perspectives, contextual factors, and relationships when designing interventions to support students exposed to chronic stress at home.
The needs arising in today’s society, and consequently, the demands placed on its citizens imply that individuals must possess a set of competencies to address them, such as the need to navigate diverse social contexts, manage digital information, and solve complex problems collaboratively. In terms of competency-based education, it’s essential to highlight the role of the educational field, which, must constantly adapt and transform itself to promote the comprehensive development of its students, including critical thinking, socio-emotional skills, digital literacy, and collaborative problem-solving. The objective of this study is precisely to analyze the perceptions and practices of Early Childhood and Primary Education teachers regarding the implementation of active methodologies and innovation in the classroom. The results reveal that teachers innovate in their practices and prioritize active methodologies to foster competency development in their students. Although they acknowledge various challenges, such as limited preparation time, insufficient training, and the integration of digital tools. The study highlights how Early Childhood and Primary Education teachers implement active methodologies and innovate with their students, despite facing challenges such as a lack of specific training, time for preparation, and especially digital resources to further engage in educational innovation. They share their experiences and, therefore, their contribution as educators to shaping competent citizens prepared for present and future societal demands.
This study draws on data from 77 and 68 educational systems to conduct a meta-analysis examining the relationship between students' cultural capital, teacher support, student-teacher relationships, and mathematics achievement. Results show that objectified and institutionalized forms of cultural capital-specifically home possessions (r = .27, p < .0001), parental occupational status (r = .17, p < .0001), and parental education (r = .02 to .03, p < .0001)-are positively associated with student performance, though the strength of these associations varies substantially across national contexts (I-2 = 84%-90%). While teacher support (TEACHSUP) and student-teacher relationships (RELATST) do not show significant direct associations with achievement, interaction analyses indicate small but statistically significant moderation patterns. Specifically, teacher support is associated with slight variation in the relationship between home possessions and occupational status and achievement, while student-teacher relationships show similarly modest associations with parental education and home possessions. These effects are small in magnitude (r = .01 to .04) and should be interpreted with caution. Taken together, the findings do not provide clear evidence of compensatory effects and are consistent with multiple interpretations, including slight variation in existing socioeconomic gradients. The results highlight the continued importance of structural resources as the most consistent predictors of achievement and suggest that the equity potential of relational interventions should be interpreted cautiously.
In today's dynamic and increasingly uncertain educational environments, teachers are expected to constantly acquire new knowledge and demonstrate creativity to ensure quality teaching, that is, the integration of good and successful teaching. Job boredom, as an emotion, is regarded as a key driver of individuals' knowledge-seeking behavior and creativity. Dyadic leader-member exchange relationships (LMX) have been identified as a critical factor in the emotion regulation of teachers. Using data from 1,406 Nigerian teachers, this study investigates the impact of job boredom on teacher creativity and teaching practices, with a particular focus on the mediating and moderating roles of LMX and pedagogical knowledge absorptive capacity (ACAP) in this relationship. The findings indicate a correlation between teacher job boredom and increased activities aimed at recognizing, assimilating, transforming, and exploiting new pedagogical knowledge, as well as a greater variation in teaching practices. ACAP, in turn, emerged as the key driver of teacher creativity and quality teaching. Crucially, the study introduces a novel curvilinear understanding of LMX in educational contexts, demonstrating that high-quality leader-member exchange weakens the positive influence of boredom on these outcomes. While this suggests that high LMX can provide a stabilizing environment for good teaching, it also implies that too much relational support may dampen the creative potential of boredom. Consequently, school leaders should balance support with constructive challenges to ensure that boredom translates into productive pedagogical innovation rather than complacency, while policy frameworks should prioritize training that enhances teachers' absorptive capacity.
To improve their practices, teachers need to regularly develop and practice teaching innovations. Hence, this study examines such practices via the relations between entrepreneurial teachers and their entrepreneurial ecosystem, including schools' formal structures and informal collegiality. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the survey responses of 734 teachers from 30 Hong Kong primary and secondary schools examined the structure of their entrepreneurial attributes and competencies. The results revealed hierarchical structures for entrepreneurial attributes (Mitigating Risk and Contriving Humility) and competencies (Advocating Innovation and Seeking Resources). The entrepreneurial ecosystem has a two-factor structure, comprising formal structure and community. Structural equation modeling showed that entrepreneurial teachers' attributes were linked to entrepreneurial teachers' competencies, which in turn were linked to the entrepreneurial ecosystem's formal structures and informal community. Further, teachers with more than 3 years of teaching experience had more teacher entrepreneurial competencies than less experienced teachers. This study offers insights into (a) how teachers foster innovative and entrepreneurial teams within EEs, (b) strategies to integrate entrepreneurial thinking and innovative practices, (c) promoting innovation, and (d) forming entrepreneurial teams.
With the growing interest in using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) for work tasks, empirical research is needed to understand the conditions facilitating and hindering such use. Drawing on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this study examines the moderating effect of innovation culture in schools on the relationship between school leaders' openness to experience and the integration of GenAI in school leadership tasks. This research used a cross-sectional survey design, collecting data from 302 Israeli school leaders in primary and secondary schools. Regression analysis was used to explore the relationships between the variables. Correlations indicated that school leaders with higher openness to experience are more likely to integrate GenAI into their school leadership tasks. The moderation analysis showed that only the presence of a strong innovation culture significantly strengthens this relationship. The moderation analysis also pointed out that, by contrast, in schools with a low innovation culture, school leaders' openness to experience is not related to integrating GenAI into school leadership work. The study contributes empirically to the emerging discourse on AI in educational leadership by clarifying the role that school leaders' personality traits and institutional culture play in this change and the relevance of the interaction between the factors.
In the United States, military service members and their families move often. High rates of mobility in military-connected (MC) families means frequent school changes, which can take a toll on children. There is a nascent but growing literature on the role that school supports can play in helping MC children with school transitions. To better understand the role of school supports for MC students and families who frequently change schools, we interviewed 40 MC families with elementary and middle school aged children. Analysis of these qualitative data yielded the following themes: (a) with each move, MC parents faced navigating rocky academic transitions; (b) they also observed the heavy emotional toll on their children; (c) for both parents and students, making new social connections is critical to a successful transition; (d) even small gestures of understanding and acts of support by school staff were appreciated by MC families; and (e) most MC families, though not all, emphasized the value of military-specific school supports.
Although collective teacher responsibility can play a critical role in student learning and development, our understanding of it remains limited. Using data from state-representative elementary and middle schools in Indiana, this study examines the relationship between collective teacher responsibility and student achievement. Regression analyses show that schools with higher poverty rates, larger proportions of racial/ethnic minority students, and larger enrollments tend to have lower collective teacher responsibility. On average, collective teacher responsibility is not associated with math achievement, but the association is stronger for English Language Learners (ELLs), Black students, and lower-achieving students. In English Language Arts, collective teacher responsibility is positively associated with achievement, particularly for ELLs, students with individualized education programs, and lower-achieving students. These findings underscore the importance of collective teacher responsibility in supporting student learning, especially for marginalized students.
This paper aimed to thoroughly analyze the impact of principal leadership on teacher outcomes, drawing on a database of 153 studies published in Scopus-indexed journals over 23 years (2000-2023). Descriptive statistics were employed to highlight trends in the existing literature in terms of growth trajectory, geographic distribution, authorship trends, citation impact, article types, and methodological approaches. Then, a more thorough examination of the reviewed articles was conducted employing the content analysis method. The findings reveal a notable reluctance among scholars to explore principal leadership styles in the context of teacher-related outcomes. Transformational, distributed, and instructional leadership emerged as the predominant styles in the relevant literature. Moreover, the study identified noteworthy associations between principal leadership and teacher outcomes, such as job commitment, job satisfaction, and performance. A set of recommendations has been proposed to advance further research and to deepen our understanding of how principal leadership impacts teacher outcomes.
Is a game-changing transformation possible in education? In an era where traditional school structures are becoming less flexible and resistant to change, the "Agile School Model" is attracting more and more attention and is positioned as a "game changer." This study aims to reveal the innovative potential of this approach in terms of educational policies in Turkey by examining the impact of the agile school model on academic achievement. The quantitative data of the mixed-method study were obtained from 683 school administrators and teachers working in public schools with High School Entrance Exam (HSES) achievement above the Turkey average, and qualitative data were obtained from in-depth interviews with 21 teachers. In quantitative analyses, Pearson correlation and simple linear regression were used. As a result of the qualitative analysis, a total of 16 sub-themes were identified under the titles of "agile leader," "agile teacher," "agile school environment" and "agility in external stakeholder relations." The research reveals that there is a positive and significant relationship between agile school characteristics and academic achievement. The fact that the strongest relationship is seen in the school environment and external stakeholder relations shows that agile practices are effective not only within the school but also in the relationships established by the school with its environment. In this respect, the study provides a strong suggestion that education policies should evolve into more flexible, inclusive and collaborative structures.
There is still an approach to the Practicum in which pre-service teachers are still seen as trainees who cannot contribute to the experienced practice of in-service teachers. The aim of this study was to find out, from the point of view of in-service teachers, university practicum tutors and pre-service teachers themselves, whether the latter doing their last Practicum can contribute to school improvement from an inclusive perspective and, if so, in what aspects of improvement this influence is produced. A qualitative comprehensive-descriptive study was carried out during two school years with the participation of 14 in-service teachers from 2 different schools and 10 pre-service teachers who were participating in the last Practicum, as well as 2 university tutors. Results show that pre-service can play a relevant role in school improvement, especially in classroom organisation, in teacher's professional development and, in children's learning. Reflections on teacher training programmes are provided.
Despite growing interest in improving academic performance, the interaction between cognitive load and the learning strategies students use underexplored. This study examines how cognitive load and critical thinking skills affect academic performance in adaptive learning settings. We utilized a cross-sectional survey design with a sample of 500 undergraduate students to test a mediation model. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to examine the relationship between cognitive load, critical thinking and academic performance. Data were collected using validated self-report instruments administered online via the Qualtrics platform. The direct effect of cognitive load on academic performance was significant (beta = -.45, p .05). The model tested showed good fit indices (CFI = 0.94; TLI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.06; SRMR = 0.05) which confirm its theoretical validity. Additionally, correlational analyses demonstrated significant positive relationships between germane cognitive load and metacognition and academic performance, as well as negative relationships with intrinsic and extraneous load (all p < .01). The predictive value of germane load was also confirmed by regression analysis (beta = .52, p < .001) followed by strategic learning approaches. The results of this study highlight the significance of limiting cognitive load and promoting successful strategy use in higher education.
