Bill Mulford’s research while affiliated with University of Tasmania and other places

This chapter focuses on three aspects of high school functioning in the context of educational reform: leadership and the school results of organisational learning and student outcomes. A brief review of recent and significant work in these areas provides a framework for a discussion of what makes a difference to high school performance. The findings of a three-year study of high schools in two Australian states is used to extend our present knowledge of these areas, and the nature of their interaction and influence on school processes and outcomes.

The research reported in this chapter builds on work commenced 8 years ago with reviewing the literature and models of successful school leadership for improved student outcomes. When the findings of this review were combined with the results from case studies of successful schools, it resulted in a preliminary model of successful school principalship. My research team and I examined a range of areas using further analysis of the case study data, detailed analysis of the subsequent quantitative surveys (developed in part from the preliminary model), and student literacy, numeracy, and social development results. The final part the research used model building and powerful multi-level statistical analyses of the survey data. For those seeking successful and constantly improving schools the concluded challenge is to create synergistic effects; the accumulation of a number of effects developed with others over time in the same direction. But success also depends on which areas of school life the school chooses to focus time and attention. As we clearly demonstrate in our research, success will be most likely if the school choose areas they can actually influence – areas such as school capacity building, evaluation and accountability, teacher values and beliefs, and student social development.

The research reported in this article builds on work commenced eight years ago with reviewing the literature and models of successful school leadership for improved student outcomes. When the findings of this review were combined with the results from case studies of successful schools it resulted in a preliminary model of successful school principalship. We examined a range of areas using further analysis of the case study data, detailed analysis of the subsequent quantitative surveys (developed in part from the preliminary model) and actual school literacy and numeracy results. We also included a measure of teacher perceptions of student social development. This inclusion is consistent with evidence that social skills have become many times more important in determining students' relative life chances in the 21 st Century than cognitive outcomes alone. The final part of our research used model building and powerful multi-level statistical analyses of the survey data. In this way, we examined all the factors that may influence a school’s success with student outcomes. Model building allowed us to construct inherently logical and theoretically defensible representations of the “world” in which successful schools exist, and the models can be statistically tested to see how well these representations explain the reality portrayed by the data collected.

Resumen The research reported in this article builds on work commenced eight years ago with reviewing the literature and models of successful school leadership for improved student outcomes. When the findings of this review were combined with the results from case studies of successful schools it resulted in a preliminary model of successful school principalship. We examined a range of areas using further analysis of the case study data, detailed analysis of the subsequent quantitative surveys (developed in part from the preliminary model) and actual school literacy and numeracy results. We also included a measure of teacher perceptions of student social development. This inclusion is consistent with evidence that social skills have become many times more important in determining students' relative life chances in the 21 st Century than cognitive outcomes alone. The final part of our research used model building and powerful multi-level statistical analyses of the survey data. In this way, we examined all the factors that may influence a school’s success with student outcomes. Model building allowed us to construct inherently logical and theoretically defensible representations of the “world” in which successful schools exist, and the models can be statistically tested to see how well these representations explain the reality portrayed by the data collected.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of what the author believes to be his major contributions to the field of Educational Administration. Design/methodology/approach The approach taken is a personal review and reflection based on research. For purposes of structuring the article three themes have been selected – complexity, development, and being close to and providing an empirical base for policy and practice. In addition, three areas are discussed that the author regrets having not taken further – the relationship between a school and its system from the school's perspective, the role of quality evidence, particularly the provision of valid and reliable surveys for use by practitioners, and public attitudes to education, including re‐examining the purposes of schools and their enactment. Findings The studies reviewed stress the importance of the interrelationship between the individual, organisational and contextual in effective teaching of educational administration, organisational development in schools, leadership for organisational learning and student outcomes, and successful school principalship. These studies promote a “tinkering towards Utopia”. “Tinkering” in the sense of improvement from the inside out rather than from outside schools and from the top down, and being about small scale and developmental rather than wholesale and/or continuous change. “Utopian” in the sense of focusing on complexity and heterogeneity rather than simplicity and homogeneity in both purposes and processes. “Utopia” is about learning for all, especially through facilitating schools as communities of professional learners. However, there continues to be a need for researchers in the field to provide a stronger empirical base for policy and practice, including providing quality, culturally specific evidence. Research limitations/implications While clarity is provided on the links between leadership and student outcomes in schools and areas for further research are identified, the article is limited by its heavy reliance on the author's Australian research findings. Originality/value The article has value in that the links are clarified between leadership and a breadth of student outcomes. It broadens what counts for good schooling and school leadership and provides clear evidence for improvements in policy and practice.

Purpose This study aims to present revised models and a reconceptualisation of successful school principalship for improved student outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The study's approach is qualitative and quantitative, culminating in model building and multi‐level statistical analyses. Findings Principals who promote both capacity building and systems of accountability and evaluation, to the extent that their teachers perceive these two factors as characterising their schools, advance student empowerment, social development and academic achievement. Other success factors include student home educational environment, the values and beliefs of teachers, and principals' years in a school and hours worked. It is demonstrated that the negative effects of socio‐economic disadvantage can be moderated. Practical implications Insights are provided into how schools and their principals can best achieve a broad range of student outcomes. For example, the most direct route for a school to achieve academic success is the indirect route through fostering student social development. For successful practice, the challenge is to create synergistic effects; the accumulation of a number of effects developed with others over time in the same direction. Originality/value This study represents the culmination of a five‐year research journey on school principalship that improves student outcomes. It employs an in‐depth qualitative and quantitative methodology culminating in model building and powerful multi‐level statistical analyses. It is one of few studies available that examines most of the factors that may influence a school's success in three categories of student outcomes: academic achievement, social development, and student empowerment.

Purpose The purpose of this article is to detail the results of a large survey based research project which sough to examine the relationships among leadership, organizational learning and teacher and student outcomes.Design A large survey based on questionnaires developed from non-school organizations was used to develop a model to test the nature and strength of the relationships between variables and to understand the interactive nature of leadership and organizational learning and their effects on student outcomes. Model testing employed a latent variables partial least squares path analysis procedure.Findings The results of research have shown that leadership characteristics of a school are important factors in promoting systems and structures that enable the school to be effective and improve, in brief, to operate as a learning organization. School leaders need to be skilled in transformational leadership practices which work, directly and indirectly through others, towards bringing about: consensus in the organization's mission; structures for shared decision making; continual learning through reflective practice; high standards of professionalism; and, a supportive and appreciative climate that promotes a culture of trust and collaboration. The LOLSO research also demonstrates that schools can be identified as learning organizations as they establish sequentially systems and structures of operation that promote: a collaborative and trusting work environment; a shared and monitored mission; empowerment of its members to share decision-making, show initiative and take risks; and, on-going challenging and relevant professional development. These school factors of leadership and organizational learning are shown to influence what happens in the core business of the school; the teaching and learning.Value The article answers two fundamental questions: Does the nature of the leadership and the level of organizational learning in schools contribute to school effectiveness and improvement in terms of the extent of students' participation in school, student academic self-concept and engagement with school? What is the nature of the relationship between non-academic student measures of participation in school, student self-concept and engagement with school and measures of student retention and academic achievement?

Social capital refers to the norms and networks that enable people to act collectively. It is a set of resources that reside in the relationships among people that allow them to share their knowledge and skills. Social capital is built and accessed through interactions between people and groups. Educational institutions and their community benefit from building social capital. Educational leaders who are committed to lifelong learning and view the community as a resource for the institution have a key role in unlocking and building social capital. Social capital is developed through a partnership process with common purpose or vision where leadership is gradually shared between institution and community.

This article provides an overview of the 46 articles contributing to the leadership and management section of the encyclopedia. It is argued that success will depend on those areas of school life the educational leader chooses to spend time and attention. As a single input by a leader can have multiple outcomes, a leader needs to be able to see and act on the whole, as well as on the individual elements, and the relationships among them over time. Recent developments in the field demonstrate that school leadership and management is more complex, nuanced, and subtle than previously portrayed. In order to reflect this complexity, the article moves through evidence on three elements: context, organization, and leaders. Context is related to the forces currently pressing on schools and the implications of these forces for schools and their leaders. School organization focused on evolving models that moved beyond the outmoded and ineffective bureaucratic model to communities of professional learners. Evidence on leaders questioned whether one type of leadership fits all contexts and organizations. A great deal of promise was found in the evidence on successful leaders building school capacity, or communities of professional learners, and doing this in a developmental way. To be successful on all these fronts and how they interrelate in the interests of continuing improvement in student learning is the biggest challenge for the field.

Bill Mulford is an internationally recognized educator with a deep interest in the areas of educational leadership, effective implementation of educational change, and school effectiveness and improvement. He has had 35 years of successful applied research experience including ongoing large, nationally competitive projects funded by the Australian Research Council. He has maintained a distinguished research, publication, and conference presentation record despite a heavy administrative load as a successful and long-serving university administrator. Former teacher (Australia and UK), school principal (Canada), and assistant director of education (Papua New Guinea), he has high legitimacy with the profession. He has been a member of government projects of national significance and on advisory boards of national education committees. He continues to be an adviser to numerous state and national departments of education and a consultant to international organizations such as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Asian Development Bank. Past president and fellow of national and international professional associations in educational administration, Mulford’s awards include the Australian Council for Educational Administration’s Gold Medal in 2000 – for academic attainment, successful practice, and an outstanding record of contributing to the field.