Research School Network: Leading for Impact: What the Evidence Says About Effective School Leadership
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Leading for Impact:
What the Evidence Says About Effective School Leadership
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by Aspirer Research School
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Margaret Daly
Aspirer Research School Director
Margaret is the Director of Aspirer Research School and has held leadership roles in both primary and specialist settings. With over 33 years of teaching experience, she has educated children aged 3 to 19.
Throughout her career, Margaret has taken on leadership responsibilities in areas such as behaviour, safeguarding and attendance, mental health, and SEND.
Effective leadership remains one of the most powerful levers for improving outcomes for pupils. The EEF’s A School’s Guide to Implementation (2024) reminds us that leadership is not about doing more things, but about doing fewer things, better. The best leaders create the conditions for teachers to thrive, embedding a culture of continual improvement through deliberate, evidence-informed practice.
Doing Fewer Things, Better A few years ago, I sat in a leadership meeting surrounded by a mountain of initiatives – reading interventions, new assessments, behaviour frameworks. Each was well-intentioned, but staff were exhausted, and impact was limited. We paused, stepped back, and focused on just two priorities: curriculum development and professional learning. Once we created space for teachers to embed new approaches deeply, we saw genuine, sustained improvement.
It was a powerful reminder that narrowing focus and building depth can drive lasting change.
Implementation as a Learning Journey Sustainable improvement relies on a carefully sequenced process: explore, prepare, deliver, sustain. Effective leaders recognise that change is complex and approach implementation as a learning journey, not a one-off event. They take time to understand the problem they are trying to solve, identify what is most likely to work in their context, and support their teams to develop the expertise needed for success.
Investing in People Professional development is at the heart of improvement. The EEF’s Effective Professional Development (2021) identifies four core mechanisms that make CPD effective: building knowledge, motivating teachers, developing teaching techniques, and embedding practice. Leadership teams that align CPD with these mechanisms are far more likely to see improvements in teaching and pupil outcomes.
Equally important is a positive implementation climate - the shared values, norms, and expectations that shape how new practices take root. “When schools attend to the behaviours and contextual factors, and staff see positive outcomes, then the overall climate is likely to improve; this, in turn, builds further goodwill, which increases the chances of being able to implement approaches successfully in the future.” (EEF, 2024, p.18).
Sustaining the Change Finally, great leaders think beyond the first phase of implementation. Too often, initiatives lose momentum once initial enthusiasm fades. Sustaining improvement means building middle leadership, distributing responsibility, celebrating progress, and embedding evaluation into everyday routines so that change lasts well beyond individual leaders.
One of the most rewarding moments in leadership for me was watching a middle leader I’d been mentoring take ownership of a whole-school project. She began by asking brilliant questions – “Why this? Why now?” – and then carefully built her team around shared values and evidence. Seeing her lead with confidence reminded me that effective leadership isn’t about holding the reins; it’s about creating the conditions for others to thrive.
In Summary Impactful leadership is intentional, evidence-informed, and focused on the long game. By combining effective implementation with high-quality professional development, school leaders can create the conditions for genuine, lasting improvement. The goal is not simply to change practice – but to change practice for good.
References: Education Endowment Foundation (2024) A School’s Guide to Implementation: Guidance Report. London: EEF. Available at: A School’s Guide to Implementation
