Education Evolving has released a new guide designed to address the unique opportunities and challenges that face school administrators using collaborative and distributed leadership models. The guide-which draws on the expertise and experience of eight administrators from teacher-powered schools around the country-is intended for any site administrator working at, creating, or converting Read more
School systems—and the challenges they face—are often complex and diverse; effectively addressing these challenges may require a leadership approach that moves beyond traditional teacher and administrator roles. Teacher leadership is one strategy many states and districts are pursuing to facilitate meaningful change and support better outcomes for their students. To Read more
On the path to strengthen teacher pipelines, support excellent teaching and improve retention, many states have developed opportunities for teacher leadership and advancement. While most states offer advanced licenses to encourage ongoing learning and growth within the teaching profession, many are now also including supports and incentives to encourage more Read more
Candice McQueen and Charla Hurt recently shared the progress of a Tennessee initiative to engage effective teachers as teacher leaders for The 74. Excerpts of their piece appear below: The idea seemed like common sense: Engage the most effective teachers, ask them to come up with ideas for improving schools, Read more
There is no doubt that teachers exert an incredible influence on students and their learning. But what if teachers hold the key to school and district-wide reform as well? In our March Issue Brief, Core Education explores the many ways schools and districts are offering exceptional teachers opportunities to share Read more
While the importance and impact of school and teacher leadership has been widely understood by policymakers and practitioners, the field has lacked a comprehensive, research-based analysis to identify the specific elements of school and teacher leadership that can increase student achievement. Through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, the New Read more
The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd has produced a new CenterView, focused on teacher leaders as instructional leaders and how districts can enable successful teacher leadership to improve standards-aligned instructional practices. In the current landscape of rigorous standards implementation, teacher leadership is gaining increased attention Read more
With the rise of new academic standards, more rigorous educator evaluation and support systems, and a growing population of students who need additional supports, expectations for public school teachers are rising and, in turn, so are expectations for school leaders. Principals are increasingly expected to focus on “instructional leadership” by Read more
Great leadership is at the heart of every high-quality public school. Within schools, leadership is most effective when it’s distributed among a team of individuals with different skillsets and experiences but a shared mission to spark and sustain a school-wide culture of learning and improved outcomes for students. These types Read more
Rick Hess, of the American Enterprise Institute, has released two 60-second videos discussing school reform. “The solution of little ‘r’ school reform” If onerous regulations don’t improve education, what will? Rick Hess, AEI’s Director of Education Policy Studies, says that empowering teachers to make decisions is the way to high-performing Read more
The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders has released a new Ask the Team Brief, Teachers Supporting Teachers: State Policies for Non-Classroom-Based Instructors. Across the United States, non-classroom-based positions have been added in districts and schools to provide instructional support to teachers. They go by various names–coach, mentor, teacher leader–but Read more
A new suite of teacher leadership self-assessment and readiness tools have been designed for teachers exploring leadership opportunities and leaders considering teacher leadership initiatives. Developed in collaboration and consultation with the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance, REL Midwest, and the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders Read more
State education agencies have a unique opportunity through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to access the funding and support needed to advance their approach to teacher leadership. The State Teacher Leadership Toolkit provides a playbook for states to develop a framework to guide the planning, design, implementation, and assessment Read more
In the current climate of education reform, where one innovation is often quickly replaced with another, the concept of teacher ownership is critical. Those responsible for change must have a voice in creating and directing that change: teachers cannot be viewed as simply the implementers. The Annenberg Institute for School Read more
Madeline Will, writing for the Teaching Now blog, provides a summary of a new literature review on teacher leadership. Excerpts from the article appear below: “All teachers have the capacity to be leaders,” researchers wrote in a recent comprehensive review of literature on teacher leadership, “but not all teachers want Read more
AFT’s Barnett Berry and Kim Farris-Berg have produced an article that details the history of teacher-powered schools, the research supporting these innovative models, and examples of successful implementations. An excerpt appears below: The Center for Teaching Quality and Education Evolving have created the Teacher-Powered Schools Initiative to raise awareness of Read more