This study aims to: (a) examine the direct and indirect relationships between principal leadership and student achievement through school processes in Hong Kong and Macau, and (b) investigate how school contexts as conditions for leadership mechanisms linking principal leadership to student achievement. Using a novel approach—multigroup multilevel structural equation modeling—and drawing on PISA 2022 data, we find that school context not only influences leadership and student outcomes but also moderates both the magnitude and the mechanism through which leadership exerts its influences along different pathways. This study advances the understanding of leadership effectiveness by tackling the questions of “under what conditions does leadership matter most?” and “in what ways can leadership practices be responsive to various school contexts?” The findings suggest that school leaders need to collaborate with teachers and staff to situate core leadership practices into their school’s condition and culture. Leader preparation programs should focus not only on fostering leaders’ commitment to core values and educational improvement, but also on developing their sensitivity to students’ needs and adaptability in complex situations and on providing them with resources that may inform their own judgement and inventiveness in their interactions with teachers and local contexts.
BellibaşMŞPolatcanMKayaE, et al. (2025) School leadership types and teacher job satisfaction: A meta-analytic review. Leadership and Policy in Schools: 1–19. 10.1080/15700763.2025.2543807
2.
BoglerR (2001) The influence of leadership style on teacher job satisfaction. Educational Administration Quarterly37(5): 662–683.
3.
ÇobanÖÖzdemirNBellibaşMŞ (2023) Trust in principals, leaders’ focus on instruction, teacher collaboration, and teacher self-efficacy: Testing a multilevel mediation model. Educational Management Administration & Leadership51(1): 95–115.
4.
CohenJAikenLSCohenP, et al. (2015) Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. New York: Routledge.
5.
GoddardYKimM (2018) Examining connections between teacher perceptions of collaboration, differentiated instruction, and teacher efficacy. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education120(1): 1–24.
6.
GrissomJEgaliteALindsayC (2021) How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research. New York: The Wallace Foundation.
7.
GrissomJALoebS (2011) Triangulating principal effectiveness: How perspectives of parents, teachers, and assistant principals identify the central importance of managerial skills. American Educational Research Journal48(5): 1091–1123.
8.
HallingerP (2018) Bringing context out of the shadows of leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership46(1): 5–24.
9.
HallingerPKovačevićJ (2019) A bibliometric review of research on educational administration: Science mapping the literature, 1960 to 2018. Review of Educational Research89(3): 335–369.
10.
HargreavesA (2019) Teacher collaboration: 30 years of research on its nature, forms, limitations and effects. Teachers and Teaching25(5): 603–621.
11.
HeckRHHallingerP (2009) Assessing the contribution of distributed leadership to school improvement and growth in math achievement. American Educational Research Journal46(3): 659–689.
12.
HoninghMHoogeE (2014) The effect of school-leader support and participation in decision making on teacher collaboration in Dutch primary and secondary schools. Educational Management Administration & Leadership42(1): 75–98.
13.
HoqueKEWangXQiY, et al. (2023) The factors associated with teachers’ job satisfaction and their impacts on students’ achievement: A review (2010–2021). Humanities and Social Sciences Communications10(1): 177.
KlineRB (2016) Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling. 4th ed.New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
16.
KovačevićJMujkićAKapoA (2023) Examining school leadership in a transitional context: A mixed-methods study of leadership practices and school cultures as mechanisms of educational change. Educational Management Administration & Leadership51(1): 219–244.
17.
LeeMWalkerAChuiYL (2012) Contrasting effects of instructional leadership practices on student learning in a high accountability context. Journal of Educational Administration50(5): 586–611.
18.
LeithwoodKHarrisAHopkinsD (2020a) Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management40(1): 5–22.
19.
LeithwoodKJantziD (2009) A review of empirical evidence about school size effects: A policy perspective. Review of Educational Research79(1): 464–490.
20.
LeithwoodKSunJSchumackerR (2020b) How school leadership influences student learning: A test of “the four paths model.”Educational Administration Quarterly56(4): 570–599.
21.
LiebowitzDDPorterL (2019) The effect of principal behaviors on student, teacher, and school outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Review of Educational Research89(5): 785–827.
22.
LiuYBellibaşMŞGümüşS (2021) The effect of instructional leadership and distributed leadership on teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Mediating roles of supportive school culture and teacher collaboration. Educational Management Administration & Leadership49(3): 430–453.
23.
MaKCavanaghMZhangJ, et al. (2025) The association between teacher self-efficacy and student academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Educational Research Review48: 100701.
24.
MasumotoACBrown-WeltyS (2009) Case study of leadership practices and school-community interrelationships in high-performing, high-poverty rural high schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education24(1): 1–18.
25.
MayerANagengastBFletcherJ, et al. (2014) Analyzing average and conditional effects with multigroup multilevel structural equation models. Frontiers in Psychology5: 304.
26.
MuñozGWeinsteinJSemblerM (2023) Contingency, an overlooked factor by school leadership: Evidence from primary urban schools in Chile. Journal of Educational Administration61(1): 41–59.
OcB (2018) Contextual leadership: A systematic review of how contextual factors shape leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly29(1): 218–235.
29.
OECD (2009) PISA Data Analysis Manual: SPSS (2nd ed.). OECD.
RaudenbushSWBrykAS (2002) Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
32.
RaufelderDLazaridesRLätschA (2018) How classmates’ stress affects student’s quality of motivation. Stress and Health34(5): 649–662.
33.
RaykovTMarcoulidesGA (2006) A First Course in Structural Equation Modeling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
34.
SchenkeKNguyenTWattsTW, et al. (2017) Differential effects of the classroom on African American and non-African American’s mathematics achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology109(6): 794–811.
35.
SebastianJAllensworthE (2019) Linking principal leadership to organizational growth and student achievement: A moderation mediation analysis. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education121(9): 1–32.
36.
SebastianJAllensworthEHuangH (2016) The role of teacher leadership in how principals influence classroom instruction and student learning. American Journal of Education123(1): 69–108.
37.
SebastianJHuangHAllensworthE (2017) Examining integrated leadership systems in high schools: Connecting principal and teacher leadership to organizational processes and student outcomes. School Effectiveness and School Improvement28(3): 463–488.
38.
ShenJWuH (2025) The relationship between principal leadership and student achievement: A multivariate meta-analysis with an emphasis on conceptual models and methodological approaches. Educational Administration Quarterly61(2): 234–281.
39.
SmithEGümüşS (2022) Socioeconomic achievement gaps and the role of school leadership: Addressing within- and between-school inequality in student achievement. International Journal of Educational Research112: 101951.
40.
TanCY (2018) Examining school leadership effects on student achievement: The role of contextual challenges and constraints. Cambridge Journal of Education48(1): 21–45.
41.
TanCYDimmockCWalkerA (2024) How school leadership practices relate to student outcomes: Insights from a three-level meta-analysis. Educational Management Administration & Leadership52(1): 6–27.
42.
UrickABowersAJ (2014) The impact of principal perception on student academic climate and achievement in high school: How does it measure up?Journal of School Leadership24(2): 386–414.
43.
VangriekenKDochyFRaesE, et al. (2015) Teacher collaboration: A systematic review. Educational Research Review15: 17–40.
44.
WarwasJ (2015) Principals’ leadership behaviour: Values-based, contingent or both?Journal of Educational Administration53(3): 310–334.
45.
WeddleH (2022) Approaches to studying teacher collaboration for instructional improvement: A review of literature. Educational Research Review35: 100415.
46.
WuHGaoXShenJ (2020a) Principal leadership effects on student achievement: A multilevel analysis using Programme for International Student Assessment 2015 data. Educational Studies46(3): 316–336.
47.
WuHShenJ (2022) The association between principal leadership and student achievement: A multivariate meta-meta-analysis. Educational Research Review35: 100423.
48.
WuHShenJ (2026) Validating the learning-centered school leadership framework for predicting student achievement: Evidence from meta-analysis. Journal of School Leadership36(1): 116–136.
49.
WuHShenJZhangYZhengY (2020b) Examining the effect of principal leadership on student science achievement. International Journal of Science Education42(6): 1017–1039.
50.
WuYWuH (2026) Unpacking Chinese teacher job satisfaction: Multilevel mediation and moderation of collaborative professional learning, efficacy, and innovation support. Large-Scale Assessments in Education14(1): 2.
51.
YamashitaTSmithTJCumminsPA (2021) A practical guide for analyzing large-scale assessment data using Mplus: A case demonstration using the program for international assessment of adult competencies data. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics46(4): 501–518.
52.
YuklG (2011) Contingency theories of effective leadership. The SAGE Handbook of Leadership24: 286–298.
53.
ZeeMKoomenHMY (2016) Teacher self-efficacy and its effects on classroom processes, student academic adjustment, and teacher well-being: A synthesis of 40 years of research. Review of Educational Research86(4): 981–1015.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
