School Leadership and Management: Editorial

It would appear that we are currently experiencing a ‘golden age’ of school leadership. Governments around the world are devoting unparalleled resources to the development of school leaders at all levels. The shortcomings of schools are frequently linked to leadership failure and to shortages in the supply of good leaders. Simultaneously there is a preoccupation, in many countries, with the relationship between leadership and student learning outcomes. Even though this relationship has been accepted, for several decades, as a given, it now appears that governments around the world are seeking greater empirical confirmation about whether school leadership matters.