In this article, we extend and complement previous studies on self-descriptions of superintendents’ administrative work by examining the influential role of a relatively new actor in charter schools: the charter school district superintendent. In particular, we examine the influence of a charter district superintendent’s leadership on organizational factors such as mission, principal decision-making and school board involvement through interviews with the principals and board members in the district to identify how a charter school district superintendent exhibits leadership within an emerging context in the public school landscape. We use a qualitative case study approach to examine one charter school district superintendent and the perceptions of charter principals and charter school board members concerning his role and responsibility as a leader in the charter district. Three major themes emerged from the data: the superintendent’s role in the mission of an autonomous district; superintendent as an instructional leader; and the superintendent as a policy entrepreneur. The superintendent’s mission of the charter school district to operate as an autonomous entity, paved the way for the influence of the charter superintendent to employ and articulate instructional leadership strategies in his district, and spurred the superintendent toward action as a policy entrepreneur, establishing an LEA for his charter school district. The findings demonstrate that the superintendent has a significant, dynamic effect on the organizational mission and goals of the charter school district as well as influence on building principals and board members as the leader of the district.

This study aims to evaluate the leadership practices of a sample of secondary school principals in the Madrid region. An attempt will be made to provide some insights into their professional profile, their performance of leadership tasks, and the different elements that define their leadership model. An online questionnaire was used to collect their opinions on the day-to-day performance of their leadership role, as well as on the factors that influence their leadership style. From a methodological point of view, a quantitative approach is used within an interpretative framework, given that the emphasis is not on the generalisation of results but on understanding how school principals operate in their particular context. Results revealed that instructional leadership in Spain is still seen as a challenging goal for principals. This is closely in line with the bureaucratic nature of the headship role in Spanish schools.

The current case study examines secondary school principals’ social justice leadership (SJL) based on teachers’ perceptions. In the study, a qualitative research approach with a phenomenological design was used to explore the teachers’ perceptions regarding their principals’ SJL at Turkish secondary schools. The data were reached through semi-structured interviews. 11 participant teachers were determined as participants of the study with the maximum sampling method. The collected data were analyzed with content analysis, and three themes were reached: limited social justice, inclusive perspectives, and holistic leaders. Based on the results, teachers think that principals have a limited SJL and inclusion enactment. The participant teachers think that SJL should have a holistic perspective, including parents and teachers while ensuring social justice at school.

Instructional leadership is one of the central research trends in school management and leadership. The period from 2002 to 2023 marks the transition from theoretical research to practical research. This study aims to find out research trends on Instructional Leadership from 2002 to 2023, thereby finding new research directions and effective applications in the practice of Instructional Leadership associated with different school contexts at different local, national, and regional. Research directions also need to be expanded with a larger scope associated with educational innovation in the 4.0 revolution. Using the bibliometric analysis method with the support of VOSviewer software, 995 types of research consisting of journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and books were extracted from the Scopus database. Research results show that there are differences in research on Instructional Leadership in developed and developing countries in different socio-cultural contexts. There was the most significant growth from 2015-2017 in the volume, growth trends, and regional distribution of global IL press products. Leading Authors and IL Research Journals from the US and developing countries. Empirical studies follow three main directions: a school leader with the role of Instructional leadership, scholars who have focused on different aspects of Instructional leadership, and the actions in the instructional leadership models. Instructional Leadership from 2002 to 2023 focuses on teachers as well as student activities.