Distributed but Undefined: New Teacher Leader Roles to Change Schools

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 953-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Margolis ◽  
Kristin Shawn Huggins
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Organizational Complexity ◽  
Leader Roles ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Leader Role

This article examines teacher leader role development and definition by looking at one emergent model of distributed leadership: the hybrid teacher leader (HTL). HTLs are teachers whose official schedule includes both teaching K–12 students and leading teachers in some capacity. Participants included six HTLs across four school districts over 2 years, as well as their administrators. Extensive qualitative data were collected and subsequently analyzed, including interviews, on-site observations, and artifacts. Findings included a pervasive lack of role definition for the HTLs amid heightened organizational complexity, leading to numerous de facto definitions emerging. Conflicting de facto definitions led to diminished success for the HTLs, relationship deterioration, a reversion to professional development removed from the classroom, and a lack of capacity to account for HTL efficacy. The study concludes that for new teacher leaders to be successful, states and districts will need to much more clearly define roles and priorities and be specific about how budget-compensated teacher leader time is used.

Creating organizational structures to facilitate collegial interaction among teachers

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy G Ford ◽  
Peter A Youngs
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Success For All ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Organizational Controls ◽  
Formal Controls ◽  
Leader Role ◽  
Collegial Interaction

Emerging from concerns about “contrived collegiality” in schools is also the recognition that breaking existing patterns of collegial interaction (or lack thereof) might necessitate some level of leader-initiated (or otherwise organizational) intervention. This paper presents the case of Middleville, a high-performing Midwestern US district, and changes in patterns of collegial interaction which occurred during their first seven years of implementation of the Success for All program—a program which employs a cohesive set of formal organizational controls. Utilizing qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with over 60 elementary school and district staff, we endeavored to better understand the ways in which the Success for All program and its various components have spurred collegial interaction and collegiality in Middleville. Findings reveal the utility of formal controls in pushing teachers to interact in ways which represent a break from past practice. Program facilitators, a unique teacher leader role within each school, played a key role in this process by mitigating the conflict and tension that invariably arises as a result of increased interaction. Findings also emphasize the importance of critically examining the purposes behind the cultivation of collaborative practice and the norms of collegiality to go along with it.

The Teacher's Role in Personalized Learning

2020 ◽  
pp. 54-80
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Personalized Learning ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Research On Teaching ◽  
Leader Roles ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

This chapter is designed to inform teachers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers on the role of the teacher in a personalized learning (PL) environment. Teaching using a PL strategy creates a new role and set of responsibilities for teachers that also may impact the training and credentialing of preservice teachers and the professional development of existing teaching professionals. In a PL school setting, teachers may have more opportunities to settle into teacher-leader roles. The chapter provides an introduction, background information, and recent research on teaching in a PL environment. Additional resources are included as well. A survey to assess teachers' attitudes toward PL can be found in the appendix of this chapter.

scholarly journals K–12 Administration of Inclusive Schools in Canada: A Literature Review of Expectations and Qualifications of Formal School Leaders

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Anders Lunde
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Leadership Programs ◽  
Educational Leadership Programs ◽  
Inclusive Schools ◽  
K 12

The formal educational requirements for principals in Canada vary significantly between educational jurisdictions. Principals are typically unprepared to lead inclusive schools upon graduation from educational leadership programs, despite the importance of formal education and experience in inclusive education in order to lead inclusive schools. Being unprepared includes lacking knowledge about students with exceptionalities and how they can and should be accommodated. Whether administrators value and support inclusion is imperative to schools being inclusive. Support of inclusion can include the use of teachers’ varied and extensive skill set through distributed leadership. The utilization of a leadership style focused on distributed leadership can be addressed through educational leadership programs, but also through professional development programs such as locally developed programs on mentorship. Educational leadership programs need to change in order to develop leaders for inclusive schools. Until such change occurs, principals are in significant need of professional development on inclusive education and how to lead inclusive schools.

Promising Research, Programs, and Projects: Algebraic Thinking: A Professional-Development Theme

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 326-329
Author(s):  
Faye Nisonoff Ruopp ◽  
Al Cuoco ◽  
Sue M. Rasala ◽  
M. Grace Kelemanik
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
School Districts ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Algebraic Thinking ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Education Development ◽  
School Day ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Development Center

Over a thirty-six month period beginning September 1992, teams of two elementary, two middle, and two high school teachers from each of seven school districts attended a series of biweekly seminars at Education Development Center (EDC). The seminars, called Teachers, Time and Transformations (TTT), were held during the school day as part of a professional-development program for K–12 mathematics teachers.

scholarly journals Innovative Practices That Promote Teacher Leader Identity and Development of Teacher Leadership in Professional Development Schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Louis L. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Professional Development Schools ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Leader Identity ◽  
Culture Of Inquiry ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Over Time

Professional development schools (PDS) are innovative institutions formed through partnerships between teacher education programs and K–12 schools. This partnership contains many innovative practices of how teachers develop leadership skills over time. Development by its very nature is a process of change that unfolds over time and driven by a culture of inquiry. This chapter will provide some insights of how PDS innovative practices help teachers to become leaders within the profession.

Examining the Relationship Between Beliefs About Mind-Set, Beliefs About Knowledge, and Cultural Proficiency Development for K-12 Public School Teachers

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-283
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Spiess ◽  
Robyn Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Cultural Proficiency ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Public School Teachers ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
K 12

As the 4-year high school graduation rate of African American and Latino/a students in U.S. public schools continues to lag behind their White peers, cultural proficiency development has become an increasingly significant focus of school districts. While substantial resources have been committed in school districts across the country to improve professional development and hiring practices, measurable gains have ranged from inconsistent to negligible. Given the improved understanding of the importance of cultural proficiency development for K-12 public school teachers, developing more effective ways to predict and support cultural proficiency development is a necessary step to take in efforts to improve outcomes for all students. In this study, we used a hierarchical regression analysis to determine the extent to which mind-set and beliefs about knowledge predicted cultural proficiency. Participants were 853 K-12 public school educators. In addition to demographic variables, five constructs were identified via factor analysis—mind-set of self, mind-set of others, simple knowledge, certain knowledge, and source of knowledge. Results indicated all five constructs, including the demographic variables of gender and age, were statistically significant predictors of cultural proficiency. Implications for professional development and human resource practices are discussed as well as topics for future research.

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