Consequential Leadership: An Illustrated Guide on Leading for Impact

Lead lasting change for your entire learning community

School leadership requires more than good intentions―it demands consequential actions that produce positive and meaningful outcomes for students, teachers, and the whole school community. Consequential Leadership is a practical, illustrated guide for busy educational leaders that will help you move beyond compliance to meaningful transformation―efficiently and effectively.

Drawing from extensive research and real-world experience, the authors present five essential leadership imperatives that combine theoretical insights with actionable strategies, all delivered alongside engaging illustrations that make complex concepts accessible and memorable.

The book explores crucial areas that define effective educational leadership:

• Five leadership imperatives that include courage and accountability, motivation and collective purpose, evidence-based decision making, professional learning design, and performance conversations
• Practical tools and assessments like self-evaluation rubrics, reflection prompts, and a personalized leadership journey map
• Real-world applications that bridge research and practice, helping you to implement strategies that drive student achievement and teacher effectiveness
• A visual framework that presents leadership concepts through illustrations, charts, and diagrams designed to enhance understanding and retention

Embracing consequential leadership principles will allow you to develop the skills and competencies to create learning environments where students grow academically and personally, teachers thrive professionally, and school communities flourish through collective purpose and shared accountability.

Douglas Fisher is a professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Fisher was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. In 2022, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame by the Literacy Research Association. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, leadership, and curriculum design, as well as books such as Your Introduction to PLC+, Welcome to Teaching, How Feedback Works, Teaching Reading, and RIGOR Unveiled. Fisher loves being an educator and hopes to share that passion with others.

Nancy Frey is a professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Her published titles include The Courage to Learn, The Art and Science of Coaching, How Scaffolding Works, and The Illustrated Guide to Visible Learning. Frey is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California and learns from teachers and students every day.

Toni Faddis joined Corwin as a full-time professional learning consultant in 2021. Before that, she was a bilingual teacher in elementary and middles schools as well as a Reading Recovery specialist before becoming a principal and principal coach in San Diego, California. In addition, Toni served as the Director of Equity, Access, and Leadership Development at the district level. Toni holds teaching and administrative services credentials in California and earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University.

Toni is the co-author of Collaborating Through Collective Efficacy Cycles: Ensuring All Students and Teachers Succeed,PLC+ for Instructional Leaders, How Teams Work, and The Ethical Line, as well as numerous professional articles about adolescent literacy.

John Hattie, PhD, is an award-winning education researcher and best-selling author with nearly thirty years of experience examining what works best in student learning and achievement. His research, better known as Visible Learning, is a culmination of nearly thirty years synthesizing more than 2,100 meta-analyses comprising more than one hundred thousand studies involving over 300 million students around the world. He has presented and keynoted in over three hundred international conferences and has received numerous recognitions for his contributions to education. His notable publications include Visible Learning, Visible Learning for Teachers, Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn, Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12, and 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning.