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In 2008 we published an article in this journal entitled Seven Strong Claims about Successful School Leadership (Leithwood, Harris and Hopkins, 2008). The article was based on a major literature review that was summarised in a paper published by the National College for School Leadership in England 1. Both the NCSL paper and our subsequent article, proved to be more popular than we anticipated and have been extensively cited over the past 10 years (Hallinger, in press). This article revisits each of the seven claims, summarizing what was said about each in the original publications 2 , weighing each of the claims considering recent evidence, and proposing revisions or refinements as warranted. At the outset, the claims were introduced with the following caveat: These claims are not all strong in quite the same way, as we shall explain, but they all find support in varying amounts of quite robust empirical evidence, the first two having attracted the largest amount of such evidence. Those in leadership roles have a tremendous responsibility to get it right. Fortunately, we know a great deal about what getting it right means. The purpose of this article is to provide a synopsis of this knowledge.

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Abstract

The application of single molecules as templates for nanodevices is a promising direction for nanotechnology. We used a pair of suspended DNA molecules as templates for superconducting two-nanowire devices. Because the resulting wires are very thin, comparable to the DNA molecules themselves, they are susceptible to thermal fluctuations typical for one-dimensional superconductors and exhibit a nonzero resistance over a broad temperature range. We observed resistance oscillations in these two-nanowire structures that are different from the usual Little-Parks oscillations. Here, we provide a quantitative explanation for the observed quantum interference phenomenon, which takes into account strong phase gradients created in the leads by the applied magnetic field.

This article explores the relationship between distributed leadership and organizational change. It draws upon the existing literature to consider whether distributed forms of leadership influence development and change in schools. The article examines the research base relating to distributed leadership and organizational outcomes. It focuses on how different patterns or configurations of distributed leadership contribute to organizational development. The article concludes by highlighting issues that require further study and more empirical confirmation.

Over the last 4 decades, the school effectiveness and school improvement research bases have gained prominence and recognition on the international stage. In both a theoretical and empirical sense, they have matured through a wide range of welldocumented projects, interventions, and innovations across a range of countries, describing how efforts to help schools become increasingly effective learning environments for the full range of their students have been more or less successful. This review presents evidence of the effects of reform efforts at the school and system levels, through articulating 5 phases: • Phase 1understanding the organisational culture of the school; • Phase 2action research and research initiatives at the school level; • Phase 3managing change and comprehensive approaches to school reform; • Phase 4building capacity for student learning at the local level and the continuing emphasis on leadership; • Phase 5towards systemic improvement. The review concludes by reflecting on how the phases evolve and overlap and offers 3 concluding thoughts about how to identify those levers that together provide more powerful ways to enhance the learning and achievement of our students within a systemic context.

The article outlines the three phases that school improvement has been through since the mid‐1980s, paying particular attention to the characteristics of the recent ‘third age’ improvement paradigm. It is argued that these new models of improvement stand a chance of overcoming the difficulties that past improvement has had in affecting outcomes, and a number of areas of potential development for the paradigm are outlined for it to fulfil its promise, particularly in the areas of context specificity, focusing on learning in classrooms and concentrating on understanding ‘the capacity for improvement’. The contributions of ‘Third Age’ school improvement to resolving a number of conundrums that have affected the field are also explored.