Leadership plays a central role in the effectiveness and sustainability of education systems. Understanding and developing effective and context-appropriate leadership styles is a priority for both research and education policy. The aim of this article is to systematically synthesize the quantitative literature indexed in the Web of Science (WOS) on teacher leadership styles and their impact on educational outcomes, using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses) methodology. The methodology included searching the WOS Core Collection database for the period 1990–2026 and selecting quantitative empirical studies investigating teacher leadership styles and their impact. After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 87 studies were analyzed. The results show that transformational leadership is the most frequently investigated, followed by distributed and instructional leadership. Leadership styles have significant effects on teachers' subjective well-being, organizational commitment, and innovative behavior, with these relationships being mediated by self-efficacy, trust, and job satisfaction. The findings highlight a diversification of theoretical frameworks and an urgent need for longitudinal studies and cross-cultural research. The article provides a comprehensive mapping of the field and directions for future research.
Secăreanu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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