Quality leadership, quality research use: the role of school leaders in improving the use of research

The role of leaders and leadership is a well-established theme in the literature on the use of research evidence in schools. Many of the studies that have shed light on this issue, however, have been undertaken outside of Australia. There is therefore a need to better understand the nature and dynamics of research use in Australian schools. The Monash Q Project is a five-year study that is seeking to do just that, and this article shares early insights from this work on the role that leaders can play in supporting ‘quality use’ of research evidence in Australian schools.