Leadership Practices and School Performance: A Study of Head Teachers in Urban and Rural Edo State, 2024

Good school leadership plays an important role in the quality of education and how well students perform. However, this review looks at the leadership practices of head teachers in both urban and rural primary and secondary schools in Edo State, Nigeria, and how these practices affect school performance. Moreso, using information from research studies, government records, and international education guidelines, the paper explores how leadership style, management of resources, teacher motivation, and community involvement shape learning outcomes. Conversely, the findings show that urban head teachers often have better infrastructure, internet access, and more training opportunities, while rural head teachers, despite having fewer resources, are strong at building close relationships with their communities. Hence, the review calls for more focused leadership training, fair distribution of resources, and stronger Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) in order to improve school performance in both urban and rural areas. Therefore, these recommendations are relevant not just to Nigeria, but to other developing education systems worldwide, and they support United States educational development goals under the EB2 NIW framework.