Strategies for enhancing teacher leadership

Strategy 5: Improve Development Programs
To improve teacher leadership, improve teacher leadership development programs.
Resource 25: Teacher Leadership Development at Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins University, School of Education. (n.d.). Academic departments: The Department
of Teacher Development and Leadership. Columbia, MD: Author. Retrieved November
1, 2007, from http://education.jhu.edu/departments/
An important feature of the Johns Hopkins Department of Teacher Development and Leadership
is the professional development partnership between the College of Education and local school
districts. “Teacher Leadership” is an important concept in the Department of Teacher
Development and Leadership; in fact, it permeates the entire scope and sequence of programs
that prepare new teachers and administrators as well as programs designed to provide
experienced teachers with ongoing professional development. The preservice program as well as
the masters program for experienced teachers emphasizes the idea that leadership in schools is
the responsibility of all members of the school community.
Resource 26: The University of Washington College of Education, Master of Education in
Instructional Leadership (MIL)
University of Washington, College of Education. (2007). Master of Education in Instructional
Leadership. Seattle: University of Washington. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from
http://www.milead.washington.edu/mil/
“The University of Washington College of Education is pleased to offer the Master of Education
in Instructional Leadership (MIL), a unique degree program to prepare teachers who hold or
aspire to leadership positions in their schools….The MIL program addresses the challenges
common to all teacher leaders, while providing an understanding of the variations in emerging
leadership roles within the school setting.”
Resource 27: Center for Teacher Leadership Development at Virginia Commonwealth
University
Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Education. (n.d.). Center for Teacher Leadership
[Website]. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from http://www.ctl.vcu.edu/
As the website explains, the Center for Teacher Leadership (CTL) works with accomplished
teachers throughout Virginia to achieve the following:
• Promote the concept of teachers as leaders of change.
• Develop more effective teacher leaders through access to information and high-quality
training to share the knowledge, experience, and insight of teachers with policymakers
and others. Resource 28: Teacher Leadership Programs at the Bank Street Leadership Preparation
Institute
Bank Street Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). The Leadership Preparation Institute: The
Bilingual/ESL Teacher Leadership Academy New York: Author. Retrieved November 1,
2007, from http://www.bankstreet.edu/lpi/betla.html
Bank Street Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). The Leadership Preparation Institute:
Distinguished Teacher Leader Program. New York: Author. Retrieved November 1,
2007, from http://www.bankstreet.edu/lpi/teacherleader.html
Substrategy 5.1: Enhance Qualifications and Development of Teacher
Leaders Through Relevant Training
Resource 29: Teacher Leadership Development in Douglas County, Colorado
Douglas County School District. (n.d.). Douglas County School District. [Website]. Castle Rock,
CO: Author. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from
http://www.dcsdk12.org/portal/page/portal/DCSD
York-Barr, J., & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher leadership findings from two
decades of scholarship. Review of Educational Research, 74(3), 255-316.
Unlike university-based degree programs, Colorado’s Douglas County School District teacher
leadership development efforts are district-based. As part of this teacher leadership initiative,
building resource teachers (BRTs) are placed in each school. To make this happen, resources
were shifted from supporting centrally assigned content specialists to supporting site-based
generalists. The BRTs are well-qualified teacher leaders; each has at least five years of
successful teaching in the district, 54 quarter hours of graduate work, and experience in
supporting adult learners. One reason for the success of the BRT program is that the BRTs have
clearly defined teacher leader roles, including mentor, coach, consultant, liaison with the district,
and resource to teachers, principals, parents, and paraprofessionals.
Resource 30: BEST Teacher Leadership Academy (BTLA) Update
Connecticut State Department of Education. (2007, Spring). BEST Teacher Leadership Academy.
(BTLA) Update. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from
https://www.ctbest.org/Resources/BTLAUpdateSpring2007.pdf
Connecticut’s BEST Program (Beginning Educator Support and Training Program) provides new
teachers with an induction support team made up of veteran teachers. This program is an
example of school systems designating teachers in formal roles of teacher leader or mentor,
thereby placing teachers at the center of instructional improvement. This site describes additional
leadership training for experienced BEST program mentors. The BEST Program is offering the BEST Teacher Leadership Academy (BETLA) to a cohort of
K–8 teachers who have served as BEST program mentors and portfolio scorers. The academy is
a two-year opportunity (2007–09) to become part of a learning community exploring the
dimensions of teacher leadership. “In year one, participants will be guided in conducting a
classroom based action research project (Teacher Inquiry Project) in an area of student learning
chosen by the individual. In year two, participants will develop a leadership project at the school
or district-level or may continue with their classroom-based project.” In addition, BETLA
activities will include seminars that explore “the roles of teachers as leaders in schools and the
importance of shared leadership and the engagement of teacher leaders in school improvement
initiatives.”
Resource 31: Evaluation of St. Charles Teacher Leader Institute
Bauer, S. C., Haydel, J., & Cody, C. (2003, November). Cultivating teacher leadership for
school improvement. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational
Research Association, Biloxi, MS. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 482519).
Retrieved November, 1, 2007, from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1
b/8f/15.pdf
The state of Louisiana recently amended its certification structure to include a new category,
Teacher Leader, and commissioned several pilot projects to design, implement, and evaluate a
teacher leader curriculum leading to eligibility for this certificate. This paper is an evaluation of
one of these pilots, the St. Charles Teacher Leadership Institute (TLI), a partnership program
between St. Charles Parish Public Schools, local leaders in business and industry, and the
College of Education and Human Development at the University of New Orleans.
Resource 32: Austin Independent School District Teacher Leadership Development
Program
Austin Independent School District. (2007). Teacher Leadership Development Program. Austin,
TX: Author. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from
http://www.austinisd.org/teachers/teacher_leadership/
The Austin Independent School District Teacher Leadership Development Program provides an
example of professional development provided by a school district for teacher leaders.
Resource 33: Teacher Leaders Learning to Analyze School Data
Henning, J. E. (2006). Teacher leaders at work: Analyzing standardized achievement data to
improve instruction. Education, 126(4), 729–737.
This study describes “how 24 elementary and middle school teacher leaders analyzed
standardized achievement test scores, utilizing four different approaches: comparing to the norm,
analyzing trends, correlating data, and disaggregating data.” These analyses were conducted “to
effect positive change in student learning and as part of graduate coursework in a Teacher Leadership Program at the University of Northern Iowa.” Learning how to use student
achievement data to improve instruction is important for teacher leaders interested in new,
practical approaches to improving student learning.
Resource 34: Developing Teacher Leaders
WestEd. (2003). Leadership development: Enhancing the role of teachers. R&D Alert, 4(3), 1–8.
Retrieved November 1, 2007, from http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/rd-02-03.pdf
Two WestEd projects seek to enhance the role of teachers in leading educational reform:
WestEd’s Instructional Leadership Initiative (ILI) and WestEd’s Leadership Curriculum for
Mathematics Professional Development (Mathematics Renaissance). Using these projects as
examples, this article explains the importance of teacher leadership to educational reform.
Resource 35: Teacher Leadership Project
Brown, C. J., & Rojan, A. (2003, November). Teacher leadership project: Final evaluation
report. Seattle, WA: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved November 1, 2007,
from
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/downloads/ed/researchevaluation/TLP2003Final.pdf
This report is an evaluation of the Teacher Leadership Project (TLP), funded by the Gates
Foundation to provide leadership and technology training as well as computer equipment to
teachers in Washington State. The TLP was designed to assist teachers in their efforts to
integrate technology into the school curriculum. “The program also strived to encourage and
facilitate teachers in their efforts to provide technology expertise and leadership in and beyond
their schools and districts” (p. i). An initial cohort of 27 teachers developed the program in 1997
for other teachers. Between 1998 and 2003, an additional 3,387 teachers across the state of
Washington were awarded TLP grants.
The findings of this study suggest that this program was an effective model of professional
development. The participants valued the program being based on “teachers teaching teachers,”
as the instructors had actually been in the classroom. In addition, the teachers responded that the
following elements were all positive aspects of the TLP: in-depth, hands-on training; leadership
development; access to technology; a focus on curriculum; on-the-job training; collaboration;
and reflection. The report concluded that the TLP was a remarkably effective training program.
Resource 36: The Maine School Leadership Network
Donaldson, G. A., Jr., Bowe, L. M., MacKenzie, S. V., & Marnik, G. F. (2004, March). Learning
from leadership work: Maine pioneers a school leadership network. Phi Delta Kappan,
85(7), 539.
Principals and teacher leaders in Maine have the opportunity to participate in a two-year
leadership training program, the Maine School Leadership Network (MSLN). Maine’s teacher
and administrator associations, business leaders, and university system joined together to create
the Maine School Leadership Network. This program “combines individual coaching, reflection on practice, and a ‘community of learners’ network to support the efforts of principals and
teacher leaders to develop effective and sustainable leadership for Maine’s schools.”
Resource 37: School Leadership Team Development
WestEd. (2007). School Leadership Team Development [Website]. Retrieved November 1, 2007,
from https://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/serv/37
WestEd offers a workshop series for multiple school leadership teams from the same district.
Team members develop skills for building and maintaining collaborative working groups among
teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and others; participants learn how to
support standards based teaching and learning; and participants learn how to apply leadership
practices to specific content areas.
Subtrategy 5.2: Provide Teachers With Quality Professional
Development Opportunities
Professional development is an important strategy for building teacher quality through teacher
leadership. Principals should increase their knowledge of quality professional development by
building their knowledge base of professional development standards and adult learning
principles.
Resource 38: U.S. Department of Education
Model Professional Development Awards Program
National Staff Development Council. (2007). U.S. Department of Education Model Professional
Development Awards [Website]. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from
http://www.nsdc.org/library/basics/usdoe.cfm
This site is a good resource for programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Education Model
Professional Development Awards Program. The National Staff Development Council (NSDC)
site provides examples of how schools have achieved quality professional development linked to
improved student learning. NSDC has published several articles about the winners, including
profiles of each winning school or district from 1997–2000. This site contains links to articles
about the winners.
Hassel, E. (1999). Professional development: Learning from the best—A toolkit for schools and
districts based on the National Awards Program for Model Professional Development.
Oak Brook, IL: North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved November 1,
2007, from http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/pd/lftb.pdf
This comprehensive toolkit is based on the experiences of award-winning sites of the U.S.
Department of Education’s National Awards Program for Model Professional Development. It
provides schools and districts with a step-by-step guide to implementing strong, sustainable
professional development that drives achievement to students’ learning goals. Killian, J. (1999). Islands of hope in a sea of dreams: A research report on the eight schools that
received the National Award for Model Professional Development. San Francisco:
WestEd. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from
http://www.wested.org/wested/pubs/online/PDawards/PDAwardReportDraft1299.pdf
This report summarizes a study of the eight award-winning schools recognized by the National
Awards Program for Model Professional Development in the years 1996 and 1998. “The study
aims to describe how teachers learn in these schools, how their learning is supported, and the
characteristics of the school that allow these teachers to excel.”
Resource 39: National Staff Development Council Standards
National Staff Development Council. (2007). About the standards. Oxford, OH: Author.
Retrieved November 1, 2007, from http://www.nsdc.org/standards/about/index.cfm
This site is the source for the National Staff Development Council’s revised Standards for Staff
Development. The importance of teacher leadership is included as part of the leadership
standard. The standard states: Staff development that improves the learning of all students
“requires skillful school and district leaders who guide continuous instructional improvement.”
Resource 40: Learning Community as Professional Development
Caine, G., & Caine, R. N. (2000, May). The learning community as a foundation for developing
teacher leaders. National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Bulletin,
84(616), 7–14.
This article describes a small-group process that can be used in professional development to
develop teacher leadership. The theory is that the development of leadership is more powerful
when school staff members work together to foster collective learning. The authors of the article
have used “a small-group process for many years as their primary instrument for self-directed,
continuous professional development.” The results have convinced them of “the need to
strengthen the learning community of adults in the school as part of a general approach to
professional development. As this happens, not only do people become more proficient as
teachers and as leaders, but [also] the school becomes a place that supports good teaching and
effective leadership.”