Advance School Leadership, Progress Teaching Approach and Boost Learning: The Case of Indonesia

The 2013 Curriculum Reform and its effect on school practices remain a challenge for Indonesia since the roles of school leadership remain unaddressed. This study aimed to examine the effect of school leadership on instructional practices and student learning. This cross-sectional survey collected data from 1,082 students and 180 teachers from randomly selected 40 junior secondary school principals. Employing education production function models, this study found that the quality of school leadership had impacts on teachers’ ability to create student-centered instruction and consequently on student learning. Results suggest that school reforms would be even more successful, among other things, through establishing school principals as professional agents of change that help teachers transform their instructional behavior and improve learning.