Research Alert
Leaders and Champions All
What problem do you want to solve in your school? How to develop top talent? Help other teachers improve? A recent paper from the Aspen Institute—Finding a New Way: Leveraging Teacher Leadership to Meet Unprecedented Demands—explains how schools can shape teacher leadership roles in response to school- or district-specific challenges. The paper looks at how four school systems—in Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; the Achievement First Public Charter Schools network; and Singapore—have successfully leveraged teacher leadership.
"Teacher leadership," the author notes, "is defined as specific roles and responsibilities that recognize the talents of the most effective teachers and deploy them in the service of student learning, adult learning and collaboration, and school and system improvement." Teacher leaders reveal themselves to be "innovators, researchers, champions of student learning, leaders of colleagues, and policy advocates" (p. 4).
Teacher leadership does, indeed, look different in different contexts. For example, Denver was concerned with the capacity of teachers to improve student outcomes, so teacher leadership focuses on school improvement strategies. In Washington, D.C., a school system that has struggled to recruit and retain good teachers, the Leadership Initiative for Teachers (LIFT) provides a five-step career ladder that includes recognition through compensation and leadership opportunities.
The report offers two good reasons for fostering teacher leadership. The first is the transition to the Common Core State Standards. Notes the author, "There is no reasonable chance of meeting these expectations without engaging many more teachers in leading this work" (p. 8). The second reason to support teacher leadership is the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems that require multiple evaluations and frequent feedback to teachers. Teacher leaders could serve as peer observers and drive teacher growth.
Written by Rachel Curtis, Finding a New Way: Leveraging Teacher Leadership to Meet Unprecedented Demands is available at www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/finding-new-way-leveraging-teacher-leadership-meet-unprecedented-demands.
Numbers of Note
Eager to Lead … But Not as a Principal
51 The percentage of teachers who have a formal leadership role in their school (such as department chair or teacher mentor).
51 The percentage of teachers who are interested in teaching part-time and combining teaching with another responsibility in their school.
16 The percentage of teachers who are interested in becoming a principal.
Source: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. (2013). The MetLife Survey of The American Teacher: Challenges for School Leadership. New York: Author.
Relevant Reads
The Art of Coaching by Elena Aguilar (Jossey-Bass, 2013)
This book describes how teacher coaching can transform school cultures. Using many anecdotes and examples, the author discusses the skills and tools that teacher coaches need to refine and deepen their coaching practice, including developing trusting relationships, listening and questioning, and conducting productive conversations.
