Keywords
optimal learning
school leadership
How to Cite
Abstract
Effective school leadership is essential for achieving academic success and continuous improvement. This study examined leadership practices and their relationship to teaching quality and student learning outcomes in a high-performing private American curriculum school in Dubai. Adopting a single case study design, data were gathered through open-ended questionnaires administered to the principal, school advisor, academic leaders, and selected teachers, complemented by analysis of two consecutive NEASC accreditation reports (2018 and 2022) and institutional records. The NEASC Learning Principles, organized across three dimensions of learning architecture, culture, and ecology, served as the analytical framework through which leadership practices were examined. The findings, reflecting teachers' and school leaders' perceptions rather than direct measurement of student outcomes, indicated that integrating instructional, transformational, and distributive leadership practices was associated with improved instructional quality, a collaborative professional culture, and enhanced student engagement. While NEASC reports provided valuable external perspectives, they were treated as institutional evaluation documents rather than independent research data. A noted contextual limitation was the virtual conduct of the 2022 NEASC evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted direct observation. The study offers practical implications for school leaders and policymakers in Dubai and comparable international contexts seeking to implement evidence-informed, multidimensional leadership strategies.
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