A Systematic State-of-the-Art Review of Asian Research on Principal Instructional Leadership, 1987–2024

Interest in instructional leadership has grown dramatically in Asia since 2010. This systematic state-of-the-art review analyzed the evolution of analytical models, research methods, and findings in Asian studies of instructional leadership that employed the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). The authors applied content analysis to 349 Asian instructional leadership studies sourced from multiple digital databases. The publication of Asia-based studies of instructional leadership increased from 47 before 2011 to 257 in the subsequent 15 years. Our analysis of 302 quantitative and mixed methods studies found that Asian scholars have primarily employed univariate and direct effects models in their instructional leadership studies, a limitation for knowledge advancement. At the same time, the use of advanced multivariate analytical models increased from 2.1% of the literature before 2011 to 23.3% in the subsequent period. Analysis of 20 “state-of-the-art studies” found a consistent pattern of significant mediated and direct effects of instructional leadership on teacher attitudes and practices. Moreover, several well-designed studies found that a school’s cultural context moderated the effects of instructional leadership on teaching and learning. Findings from the state-of-the-art review highlight the relationship between analytical models, variable selection, and research methods in studies that advance knowledge.