“Tearing Down the Wall”: Making Sense of Teacher Leaders as Instructional Coaches and Evaluators

2020 ◽  
pp. 105268462096993
Author(s):  
Meghan Comstock ◽  
Jason Margolis
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Level ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Instructional Coaches ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
School Norms ◽  
Leadership Policy

Some recent district-level teacher leadership programs have incorporated both instructional coaching and formal evaluations into teacher leaders’ (TLs) responsibilities, which research suggests could challenge the relational dynamics necessary for effective coaching. Using a sensemaking lens, we conducted a qualitative case study of one district’s effort to integrate coaching and formal evaluation in their teacher leadership policy. We conducted a total of 26 semistructured interviews with district administrators and school leaders, TLs, and teachers in two schools, and seven observations of teacher leadership activities. We coded interview transcripts and field notes deductively and inductively. We found that when granted autonomy, principals drew on varied sources for making sense of and enacting this policy, and the messages they conveyed through school leadership norms deeply influenced how teachers and TLs enacted and experienced the integration. The integrated district policy in and of itself did not hinder relationships between teachers and TLs; rather, what mattered most for teachers was the extent to which they perceived their TLs as part of a larger system of support or accountability. This study suggests that the school norms that school leaders put into place when enacting teacher leadership policies deeply influence teachers’ perceived relational dynamics with TLs. Teacher leaders have a unique role in implementation that is shaped by school-level norms and conceptions of effective leadership and coaching.

scholarly journals Scaling standards-aligned instruction through teacher leadership: methods, supports, and challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Cassata ◽  
Elaine Allensworth
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Level ◽  
Instructional Change ◽  
Teacher Leader

Abstract Background The Common Core Standards for Mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards were adopted by states with the goal of preparing students with knowledge and skills needed for college, careers, and citizenry. Adopting these standards necessitated considerable changes in instructional practice. While teacher leadership is known to be important for instructional change, there is little research that articulates the processes through which that influence occurs, and how contextual factors constrain or support those processes. This paper provides a case study of efforts in the Chicago Public Schools to promote widespread instructional change around standards reform through a teacher leader model using retrospective from 2013 to 2017 interviews with 16 math and science teacher leaders serving grades 6–12, along with quantitative analysis of district-wide data showing patterns of change and professional learning. It builds off prior research to articulate a framework of how teacher leaders promote instructional change. Findings There were five patterns of teacher leader action: inspiring others, sharing with colleagues, working in collaboration, advocating for change, and providing individual support, and an interplay between teacher actions and school-level contextual factors, with some contextual factors more important than others for different types of actions. In particular, sharing and collaborative work were facilitated in schools with designated collaboration time, trusting relationships, and colleagues who were also trained and knowledgeable about the new standards. The degree of collective efficacy the teacher leaders felt seemed to be driven mostly by the presence of other knowledgeable change agents in the school. Conclusions and implications The study adds to the existing literature on teacher leadership by articulating the mechanisms through which teachers exert influence around instructional improvement of their school peers and providing examples of each. Further, the study illustrates how these mechanisms are facilitated or constrained by the larger school context. Together, the articulation of mechanisms and contexts, along with illustrative examples, provides a guide for supporting instructional change through teacher leadership in schools and districts.

scholarly journals Multicultural Educational Practices: School Women Leaders Perspectives And Contextual Realities For Promoting Intercultural Harmony In Schools

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-109
Author(s):  
Tayyaba Zarif ◽  
Aziz un Nisa
Keyword(s):  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Level ◽  
Teaching Learning

The increasing diversity of cultural, ethnic, racial and tribal composition of societies in general and schools in particular signify the importance of multicultural education at all levels of education. In this context the roots of such a concept can be strengthened at school level in any community. Here the role of school leadership is imperative towards promoting intercultural harmony in the school environment in general and the curriculum and classroom practices in particular. This research sheds light on the perspectives of school leadership and the actual scenarios at school level to integrate intercultural education into mainstream curriculum and teaching-learning practices at schools. For this reason altogether 30 School leaders were selected through purposive-random sampling from a sample of 30 private schools of Karachi selected with the help of convenient sampling. The most experienced School leaders were selected for this study. The perspective of School leadership regarding Multicultural Education and their practices in everyday schooling was collected through interviews by using an open ended questionnaire so the study is completely qualitative in nature. The theme analysis of qualitative data was done. The theme analysis depicts that the principals in-general seem to possess a positive understanding of multicultural education and that they preferred a very neutral approach for multicultural education.

The Semiformality of Teacher Leadership on the Edge of Chaos

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
JASON MARGOLIS
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Systems ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Edge Of Chaos ◽  
Systemic Learning

In this article, Jason Margolis draws from complexity theory to explore the twenty-year negotiation between formal and informal teacher leadership in research and practice, making the case that there has been a drift toward a conception of semiformal teacher leadership in the field. Through both theory and examples, he illustrates how semiformal teacher leadership has the potential to afford school systems and educators both information and processors of information they likely would not otherwise have. Teacher leaders, in roles that are neither inflexible or ill-defined, can carve out intentional spaces on the edge of chaos to promote professional learning and communication in ways that solely school teachers or solely school leaders may not. In these spaces, productive complexity, agency, and systemic learning can coevolve.

scholarly journals Utilizing Teacher Leadership as a Catalyst for Change in Schools

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Raymond J. Ankrum
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Community ◽  
School Staff ◽  
Maximum Output ◽  
School Building ◽  
Leadership Potential ◽  
Community Responsibility

<p>School leaders are constantly trying to find alternative ways to leverage and explore teacher leadership potential in their school building(s). Teachers leaders that are willing to go above and beyond their general duties. Teacher leaders are the type of educators that fall under the motif of potentially taking on additive responsibilities that will help to improve the school community. This paper looks at ways to leverage relationships between teacher leaders and school leaders in order to get maximum output from school staff. By infusing shared leadership in the school community, responsibility and accountability becomes a shared belief, that can be utilized as a catalyst for change in the school community.</p>

Priming the Leadership Pipeline: School Performance and Climate Under an Urban School Leadership Residency Program

2020 ◽  
pp. 0013161X2091472
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Steele ◽  
Elizabeth D. Steiner ◽  
Laura S. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
School Climate ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Residency Program ◽  
School Level ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Suspension Rates ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Scale Scores

Purpose: This study examines school climate and student achievement trends under an ambitious school leadership residency program in an urban school district. The 2-year leadership residencies were intensive, combining at least 370 hours of professional development with on-the-job training, in which aspiring school principals held either assistant-level administrative or teacher leadership roles. Research Design: Using a difference-in-differences framework with school fixed effects, we estimate the relationship between schools’ cumulative exposure to program residents and measures of school climate and student performance. We measure school climate using school-by-semester teacher survey composites. Student performance is captured using school-by-year data on language arts and math scale scores, chronic absence rates, suspension rates, and graduation rates. Findings: In models that allow average time trends to vary between the state and the treatment city, an additional resident-by-year in an administrative role in high schools is linked to an additional 15% of a school-level standard deviation in math scale scores and an additional 3.6 percentage points in graduation rates, but also to an additional 10 percentage points in suspension rates. Results are sensitive to model specification, school level, and to residents’ placement in administrative or teacher leader roles. Implications: Due to the contracting nature of the district, only one of 30 entering residents became a school principal within 3 years of program inception. In some models, the estimates suggest potential for aspiring leaders to effect change from nonprincipal administrative roles. Potential for teacher leadership roles is less clear.

How school districts influence student achievement

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Leithwood ◽  
Jingping Sun ◽  
Catherine McCullough
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
District Improvement ◽  
The Status ◽  
Family Variables

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of nine district characteristics on student achievement, explored the conditions that mediated the effects of such characteristics and contributed to understandings about the role school-level leaders play in district efforts to improve achievement. Design/methodology/approach Data for the study were provided by the responses of 2,324 school and district leaders in 45 school districts to two surveys. Student achievement evidence was provided by multi-grade provincial measures of math and language achievement. The analysis of these data included calculation of descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and regression mediation analysis. Findings Seven of nine district characteristics contributed significantly to student achievement and three conditions served as especially powerful mediators of such district effects. The same three conditions, as well as others, acted as significant mediators of school-level leader effects on achievement, as well. Practical implications District characteristics tested in the study provide a powerful framework for guiding the district improvement work of senior educational leaders. The organizational improvement efforts of both district and school leaders would be substantially enhanced by a better understanding of how to diagnose and improve the status of those conditions acting as significant mediators of the effects of both district and school leadership on student achievement. Originality/value This is one of a very few large-scale quantitative studies examining the extent to which characteristics frequently identified by district effectiveness research explain variation in student learning. It is also one of the very few studies identifying classroom, school and family variables that mediate district effects on such learning. The study also adds to a growing body of evidence about variables which mediate school leaders’ effects on such learning.

Teachers as reform leaders in Chinese schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-677
Author(s):  
Darren A. Bryant ◽  
Chunping Rao
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
School Level ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Shanghai School ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Middle Leaders ◽  
Instructional Reforms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of teacher leadership on the enactment of educational reforms in southeastern China. It considers how the work of middle and teacher leaders in schools is structured to support reform enactment at the school level. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted in three case study sites in one school district in Shenzhen, China. Low, moderate and high academic achieving schools which had engaged teacher leaders in instructional reforms were selected. A combined total of 34 senior, middle and teacher leaders participated in semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed through a comparative coding process. Findings Across the three schools, teacher leaders without positional authority strongly influenced the instructional reforms. Their influence was strongest when bolstered by a combination of formal recognition systems, opportunities to lead projects that were directly related to the reform efforts, and mentorship systems that skilled novice teachers in reform-related skills and experienced teachers in leading reform enactment. Mechanisms and structures embedded in schools, when coherently focused on selected reforms, supported the efficacy of teachers without formal authority. And, middle leaders’ impact was enhanced when working collaboratively with formal and teacher leaders. Originality/value This research yields insight on teacher leaders’ influence of reform. It considers how the work of middle and teacher leaders can be structured as a collective that impacts on reform enactment at the school level. And, it illuminates teacher leadership in a Chinese context other than the scrutinized Shanghai school system.

Centering “Grace”: Challenging Anti-Blackness in Schooling Through Motherwork

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 142-157
Author(s):  
Terri N. Watson ◽  
Gwendolyn S. Baxley
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Black Children ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Racial Biases ◽  
Black Girlhood ◽  
Patricia Hill Collins ◽  
Educational Advocacy

Anti-Blackness is global and present in every facet of society, including education. In this article, we examine the challenges Black girls encounter in schools throughout the United States. Guided by select research centered on Black women in their roles as mothers, activists and school leaders, we assert that sociologist Patricia Hill Collins’ concept of Motherwork should be an essential component in reframing the praxis of school leadership and in helping school leaders to rethink policies, practices, and ideologies that are anti-Black and antithetical to Blackness and Black girlhood. While most research aimed to improve the schooling experiences of Black children focuses on teacher and school leader (mis)perceptions and systemic racial biases, few studies build on the care and efficacy personified by Black women school leaders. We argue that the educational advocacy of Black women on behalf of Black children is vital to culturally responsive school leadership that combats anti-Blackness and honors Black girlhood. We conclude with implications for school leaders and those concerned with the educational experiences of Black children, namely Black girls.

scholarly journals Rapid Realist Review of School-Based Physical Activity Interventions in 7- to 11-Year-Old Children

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Defever ◽  
Michelle Jones
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Implementation Fidelity ◽  
Realist Review ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Physical Activity Interventions ◽  
Rapid Realist Review

Meta-analysis of physical activity interventions in school settings have revealed low efficacy and that there is a need to explore implementation fidelity. The aim of this rapid realist review was to determine, what physical activity interventions in school settings for children aged 7- to 11-years-old works, for whom, and in what circumstances. The realist synthesis was conducted following RAMESES guidelines. Relevant studies were identified following a systematic search process and data from 28 studies was extracted for evidence to form context-mechanism-outcome configurations that were clustered and refined. Using the five-level socioecological model, the program theories were classified into the levels of intrapersonal (child), interpersonal (teachers), institutional (program content, school administration, and school environment), community (home and neighborhood), and policy. The school level led to most context-mechanism-outcome configurations related to school leadership and policy, workforce structure, program characteristics, and school environment. At each level, we identified features of interventions, alongside implementation considerations that might work to promote efficacy and sustainability. The need to recognize the school environment as part of a complex system with multi-level interaction and influences was a key finding. In line with realist philosophy, the researchers encouraged primary research to confirm, refute, and refine the program theories presented.

The Instructional Goals of the School Leadership Program: Future School Leaders’ and Educational Leadership Professors’ Perspectives1

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-91
Author(s):  
Jianping Shen ◽  
Chia-Lin Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Educational Leadership ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Leadership Program ◽  
Instructional Goals ◽  
Future School

Through analyzing data from 147 professors of educational leadership and 457 future school leaders in a national sample, the study (a) inquired into the di mensionality of the instructional goals of the school leadership program and (b) com pared the importance of these instructional goals as perceived by the two groups. It was found that the respondents perceived there were multidimensions to the instruc tional goals of the school leadership program and that there was more similarity than difference between the two groups. Implications of the findings were discussed in terms of developing and improving the school leadership program.

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