Teachers of the Year, National Board–certified teachers, Presidential Math and Science awardees, and Milken educators—the public generally considers these exemplary classroom teachers to be teacher leaders. In their schools, they mentor new teachers, lead school improvement efforts, develop curriculum, and provide professional development for their colleagues. Administrators tap them to serve on school, district, and state committees.
But how do accomplished teachers view themselves? To what kinds of leadership roles do they aspire? And what skills do they need to be effective leaders?
In February 2003, the Center for Teacher Leadership at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education set out to answer these questions by conducting an online survey of 300 of the most accomplished teachers in the United States. Sixty percent of those surveyed—179 teachers—responded, representing 37 different states. Of the respondents, 102 were National Board–certified teachers, and 92 were Teachers of the Year. Ninety-eight percent of respondents had received other awards for excellence in the classroom.
What Teachers Think About Leadership
The survey results have several important implications for those who want to promote and support teacher leadership.
Recognized teachers are confident about themselves as teacher leaders. Ninety-seven percent of respondents considered themselves teacher leaders, and 96 percent believed that others saw them as leaders.
Recognized teachers engage in many leadership roles. Ninety-three percent have conducted professional development sessions for colleagues; 83 percent have engaged in curriculum development; 84 percent have served as department chairs, team leaders, or grade-level chairs; and 84 percent have mentored new teachers. Clearly, schools are already using accomplished teachers as leaders.
Recognized teachers lack training in the new leadership roles they are asked to assume. Eighty-two percent reported that they have not received training for all the leadership roles they have been asked to take on. Most administrators apparently assume that an outstanding teacher of students will be a good teacher of teachers. However, working with colleagues requires a different skill set.
Recognized teachers desire new leadership roles. When asked to identify the top three areas in which they have notserved as leaders, but would like to serve, 95 percent of respondents chose (1) advisor to policymaking group, (2) teacher recruitment, and (3) education policy and issues. This mirrors national studies that report that teachers believe they have no input in decision making, even within their own schools (Marvel, Lyter, Strizek, & Morton, 2006). Moreover, this lack of input in decision making is a major reason teachers cite for leaving the profession (Ingersoll, 2003).
Recognized teachers want training to help them become effective in the policy arena. Although accomplished teachers want to be engaged in policymaking, they recognize that they do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to be effective in this area. When asked to identify the top three aspects of teacher leadership for which they need additional training, respondents selected (1) understanding education policy and issues (65 percent); (2) working collaboratively with education policymakers (64 percent); and (3) interpreting education research (40 percent). Everyrespondent chose either understanding education policy and issues or working collaboratively with education policymakers as an area in which they needed training.
Policy Lessons from Teacher Leaders
There have long been calls for teacher leadership in education reform, among them the Institute for Educational Leadership's 2001 report Leadership for Student Learning: Redefining the Teacher as Leader. Nevertheless, teachers still have few opportunities to develop the skills they need to become effective leaders. The literature on teacher leadership documents a consistent absence of training for those asked to assume new leadership roles. Teachers are expected to have the necessary skills on entry into leadership positions or to develop those skills on the job (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2001; O'Hair & O'Dell, 1995). The success or failure of teacher leaders has most often depended on context and on the experience and personal characteristics of the teacher.
Accomplished teachers realize that to be effective leaders in the policy arena, they must deepen their knowledge of education policy and sharpen their skills in influencing change. To provide the kind of policy training that teachers want and need, the Center for Teacher Leadership developed an online leadership course, Teacher as Change Agent, with funding from the AT&T Foundation. The following teacher profiles—drawn from the course and from the Center's Virginia Teacher Leaders Network—not only illustrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that teacher leaders need to be effective, but also highlight the importance of promoting and supporting teacher leadership.
Join with Others
Pearl Quick, a middle school art teacher, believed that Virginia's art standards needed to be revised for clarity and for better alignment with the National Visual Art Standards. Using her position as president of the Virginia Art Education Association (VAEA), Pearl proposed that the board convene committees around the state to collect input from art teachers. A revision committee made up of representatives from the state's five VAEA regions considered the art teachers' feedback. At the end of a two-year process, the state Board of Education endorsed the suggested changes.
Pearl noted that one important way to effect change, especially in specific content areas, is through active involvement in a professional organization. When it comes to teacher leadership, there is strength in numbers.
Use Data to Fuel Reform
Concerned about the effects of mandated testing on students in the Richmond Public Schools—especially kindergartners and 1st graders—1st grade teacher Sarah Ford helped create the Richmond Education Association's Testing Committee. The group spent a year looking at research; developing and conducting a survey to capture the perspective of all teachers in the district; analyzing survey results; and meeting with district leaders, outside experts, and interested parents. The report lists main concerns, such as the effect of mandated testing on instruction and teacher morale, and includes recommendations, such as reducing the number and frequency of mandated assessments to allow teachers time for creative and enrichment activities.
The final proposal was presented to the school board with the full support of Concerned Parents for Assessment Reform, a new advocacy group that parents formed as a result of Sarah's efforts. The school board has now created a task force that includes members of the testing committee, parents, and district administrators. The group has already agreed to eliminate the developmentally inappropriate test for kindergarten and 1st grade students and is working to implement additional changes. Sarah increased her chances of success by doing her homework, working with a team and other important stakeholders, and making sure that she had data to back up her recommendations.
Communicate and Build Relationships
Sharon Nelson, a high school chemistry teacher, believed that school districts in Wisconsin needed high-quality induction programs to support new teachers. Working with the New Teacher Center at the University of California–Santa Cruz and initial funding from the Goldman Sachs Foundation, she established the Wisconsin New Teacher Project, whose mission is to provide guidance, training, and support to school districts as they develop and implement new teacher induction programs. Sharon and Tom Howe, a high school social studies teacher, also launched the Dane County New Teacher Project, a pilot consortium site of 14 school districts.
Surprisingly, their initial efforts met with some resistance until Sharon and Tom focused on two essential skills: communication and building relationships. As Tom explained,Rather than dismissing those who couldn't see the long-term benefit of induction and mentoring, we talked about how we might communicate our project's goals, purposes, and importance in ways that resonated with our audience and touched them in ways important totheir purpose and mission. We also connected with people inside the state teachers' union and the state Department of Education who shared our beliefs around education. Finding allies within institutions, building relationships with individuals, and communicating clearly were important to our success.
Today the Wisconsin New Teacher Project is working in more than 40 districts.
Use Your Spheres of Influence
Gail Ritchie, a National Board–certified teacher (NBCT) in Fairfax, Virginia, was inspired to use her new learning from the online teacher leadership course to revise the time-consuming and unwieldy process for soliciting, reviewing, and disseminating the results of leadership projects undertaken by NBCTs. In her role as the National Board program manager for her district, Gail met with the new assistant superintendent for professional learning and training to explain her plans for streamlining the process by eliminating redundant steps, such as having both curriculum specialists and a committee of NBCTs review projects.
Gail invited a committee of National Board-certified teachers representing different grade levels, areas of expertise, and viewpoints to help refine the plan and create a fair process. On the basis of feedback from assistant superintendents and directors in her school system, Gail revised the proposal and presented it to the district superintendent and his leadership team, who approved the new process. Gail's understanding of the district's chain of command and her successful use of her spheres of influence resulted in a smoother, more efficient submission process that enabled students and teachers to quickly benefit from innovative projects.
Seize the Moment
Lori Nazareno, a National Board–certified teacher in Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, helped create a professional organization of the district's more than 600 NBCTs, whose primary purpose was to improve teaching and learning. Despite state funding for NBCTs to mentor new teachers and the group's repeated efforts to share its expertise, Lori knew that district leaders were not using these accomplished teachers effectively.
When Miami-Dade hired Rudy Crew as the new superintendent, Lori wrote him a letter offering to explore ways in which NBCTs could participate in the many reforms that he planned for the district. Crew accepted Lori's offer. Lori and a colleague shared with him a list of recommendations on how the district could better position these accomplished teachers as leaders. These recommendations resulted in a school board policy that involved assigning NBCTs to provide professional development at schools identified as being at risk for low performance. School and district administrators are now seeking out these teachers to provide professional development and help reconfigure district professional development programs.
Lori's experience points out the importance of timing. She noted,I'm receiving phone calls and e-mails six and seven times a week from district personnel asking for our input, advice, and assistance on a growing number of initiatives. It's amazing what has happened because we seized an opportunity when it presented itself.
Learn the Language
Susan Graham, a middle school family and consumer science teacher, attended teacher forums sponsored by the Center for Teacher Leadership and the Virginia Department of Education. The experience of sharing her own views and listening to the perspectives of other stakeholders opened her eyes to the complexity of working in the policy arena. As Susan explained,Here, I began to learn the etiquette of policy discussion—that the language of policy debate and political debate differed, that consensus was not concession, and that changing policy for public education was complex and required great patience. I have discovered that to become a teacher leader requires great tenacity and a willingness to accept small successes.
Follow Your Passion
Dodie Magill Rodgers, a kindergarten teacher, used her celebrity as the South Carolina Teacher of the Year to plan a statewide celebration of the 25th anniversary of kindergarten education in her state. Seeing the need for full-day kindergarten, especially for disadvantaged students, Dodie decided to use the celebration as a way to push for change. Dodie organized all the kindergarten teachers in South Carolina to host birthday celebrations and invite their local legislators. At these celebrations, politicians (and the media who follow them) received buttons and bumper stickers displaying the slogan “Half Day, Half the Way.”
Although it was a tough fight that took the careful nurturing of relationships between state legislators and teachers over several years, South Carolina now has full-day kindergarten, thanks to Dodie and her colleagues. Her advice to teacher leaders?Go for it if it is a cause in which you believe passionately. I could never have mustered the strength, determination, or courage to see this project to completion unless it had been a cause I believed in with all my heart.
Supporting Teacher Leadership
Because teachers know firsthand what is needed to improve student learning, promoting and supporting teacher leadership are crucial to the success of any education reform effort. But teacher leaders need specific knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be successful change agents. To strengthen teachers' leadership capacity, the Center for Teacher Leadership provides teachers with key resources: information on current issues that influence education and the teaching profession, National Board–certification preparation courses, training in how to work with student teachers, and mentor and leadership training.
But training alone is not enough. Teachers need opportunities to break out of their isolation and build professional networks of teachers who share a vision of education excellence. To this end, the Center for Teacher Leadership hosts statewide teacher forums, the Virginia Teacher Leaders Network, and an online discussion group dedicated to connecting teacher leaders throughout the state.
Teachers have a perspective that we can't get from anyone else. By helping good teachers become great leaders, we plant seeds that will enhance our profession and enable students to reap the reward they deserve—a high-quality education.
