Abstract
<jats:p>Innovation and leadership in educational management have assumed a central role in addressing contemporary challenges faced by education systems, particularly in light of the social, technological, and institutional transformations of the twenty-first century. This article aims to analyze the role of innovative leadership in educational management, identifying current challenges and practices associated with high-performance institutional contexts. The study adopts a qualitative approach with an exploratory and explanatory nature, based on an integrative review of scientific and documentary literature, using real and verifiable secondary data from international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and UNESCO, covering the period from 2019 to 2023. The results indicate that pedagogical, collaborative, and distributed leadership models demonstrate greater capacity to promote sustainable improvements in academic performance, teacher professional development, and educational equity. It is concluded that innovation in educational management, when articulated with evidence-based leadership practices and ethical commitment, constitutes a structuring element for the consolidation of high-performance and socially responsive educational institutions.</jats:p>