Professional development training programmes in school leadership often aim at improving leadership skills of the existing and aspiring school leaders and play a pivotal role in improving school quality. Since 2014, with support of VVOB – education for development, Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) and the University of Rwanda – College of Education (URCE) have developed and delivered a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Training Programme on Effective School Leadership for school head teachers (HT) and deputy head teachers (DHT) in the primary and general secondary in Rwanda. This programme’s theory of change assumes that CPD of school leaders leads to improved professional development of teachers and a learning culture in schools that eventually leads to improved learning outcomes for students. Approaching the end of the current implementation of the programme and the learning cycle in 2021, all involved partners together with Maastricht University intend to answer one question: What is the impact of the CPD Diploma Programme in Effective School Leadership on students’ academic performance in the schools where school leaders participated in the programme?
