Against the background of actual findings of the international comparative study [„Education Systems in Canada and Germany - An In-depth Comparison of System Governance and Educational Attainment“] the contribution aims at analysing to what extent differences in school performance (on the basis of PISA 2000 data) of Canada and Germany, in spite of similar structural conditions ("educational federalism"), can be traced back to different sets of governance strategies and instruments. First, the main distinctions concerning the organization of the administrative and political instances and the (practical) procedure of governance (governing instruments) in both educational systems will be pointed out. Second, taking into consideration the specific political-administrative context of each individual education system, the principals' multiple functions in following, generating and implementing policy as well as possible implications for effective school leadership shall be discussed.