Principal leadership in an era of accountability: a perspective from the Hong Kong context

This article presents the findings of a study into the leadership practices of Hong Kong principals working within an environment of increasing accountability. The study set out to investigate the relationships between sets of principal leadership practices and the levels of alignment, coherence and structure and support for students in the school. Results indicated that principals tend to emphasise the professional development of teachers and key staff as a way to strengthen alignment within the school and between school and government policies. However, findings also suggest that working in an accountability environment can have a negative impact on the support provided for students.