New study reveals an "implementation gap" in Chinese educational administrators' digital leadership for the AI era

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming K-12 education, but are school leaders prepared to guide the change? A new study of 1,426 educational administrators in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, has found generally positive attitudes and reasonable cognitive understanding of digital technologies but lower practical capability—an "implementation gap." The study also identified four distinct digital leadership profiles and found that gender and educational attainment, rather than age or experience, consistently shape administrators' digital leadership.

AI promises to revolutionize personalized learning, assessment, and school administration, but it also raises complex questions about data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the evolving role of educators. Navigating this transformation requires a new kind of school leadership—educational digital leadership (EDL): the competency to integrate digital technologies strategically, foster innovation, and ensure equitable and ethical implementation. Yet a crucial question remains: are educational administrators prepared for this challenge?

In a study published online on October 10, 2026, in ECNU Review of Education, a team of researchers led by Xibei Xiong from Guangxi Normal University, together with colleagues from Xuchang University, Shanghai Normal University, the University at Buffalo (USA), and The Education University of Hong Kong, surveyed 1,426 educational administrators in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, using a new scale developed from the Attitude–Cognition–Capability (ACC) model. The study found a moderately high overall level of digital leadership, with positive attitudes but notably weaker practical capability—an "implementation gap"—and identified four distinct leadership profiles: Hesitant Adopters, Enthusiastic Implementers, Balanced Moderates, and Comprehensive Experts.

"Unlike previous studies, we offer a multidimensional, empirically validated account of educational digital leadership in the AI era, based on large-scale data from China," explain Xiong et al.

The study found that gender and educational attainment were consistently associated with higher digital leadership, whereas age, work experience, and administrative position played more limited roles, years of leadership experience alone did not make a stronger digital leader. Notably, these factors explained only a small fraction of the differences between administrators, suggesting that broader conditions, such as school digital culture, access to resources, and policy alignment, may matter even more.

The researchers accordingly recommend differentiated professional development pathways for the four profiles, from confidence-building workshops for Hesitant Adopters to advanced training in AI ethics and data governance for Enthusiastic Implementers, and call for policies that strengthen administrators' practical capability to harness AI for equitable, human-centered education. "Preparing school leaders—not just teachers and students—is a critical piece of the puzzle of educational change in the age of AI," Professor Hui Li from The Education University of Hong Kong, senior author of the study, concludes.