scholarly journals Teacher leadership development: Tracking one district’s progress over three years

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Jonathan Eckert ◽  
Alesha Daughtrey
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
School District ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Collective Leadership ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Implementation Plan ◽  
Survey Tool ◽  
Leadership Support

This study tracks the progress of one Iowa school district over the course of three years through its implementation of a Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) model, designed in response to a statewide TLC system initiative. A survey administered at baseline and at the conclusion of each of three pilot years measured teacher leadership development, identified specific areas for improvements, and guided the district’s teacher leadership support efforts. Scores from the items demonstrated evidence of reliability and district leaders reported that resulting data were beneficial to an implementation plan that yielded increased planned retention and improved practice, two goals for the TLC model. Implications for the use of the survey tool, policy, and practice around teacher leadership development are discussed in the context of the collective leadership of teachers and administrators together. 

scholarly journals Empowerment through a teacher leadership academy

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy D. Visone
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
Leadership Capacity ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Leadership Academy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Suburban School District

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of a teacher leadership academy (TLA) organized through a school district/university partnership in a small, US Suburban School District in increasing teachers’ participation in leadership activities. Design/methodology/approach TLA participants (n=11) were surveyed using the Teacher Leadership Activities Scale, and their results were compared to a control group of teachers in the district who were not participating in the TLA (n=12). Interviews and open-ended response items provided qualitative data to examine how the TLA contributed to teachers’ growth as leaders. Findings Results indicated that teachers in the TLA did increase participation in teacher leadership activities. Qualitative data revealed themes of many espoused benefits from TLA participation, including increased interactions with administrators, improved understanding of the obstacles associated with implementing changes, and expanded leadership capacity. Research limitations/implications Conditions that both enhanced and detracted from teacher leaders’ growth were identified and outlined, including formal leaders’ participation in TLA activities, material support for projects, and a supportive atmosphere (enhancers) and administrative roadblocks and the inability to remediate capacity issues for teacher leaders (detractors). Originality/value The conditions outlined above will assist those interested in creating TLAs in doing so with purpose and increased chance for buy in and success.

Implementation uptake: organisational factors affecting evidence-based reform in community corrections in the United States

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle S. Rudes ◽  
Kimberly R. Kras ◽  
Kimberly S. Meyer ◽  
Shannon Magnuson
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Corrections ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Organizational Survey ◽  
Strategic Implementation ◽  
Changing Times

As community corrections organizations adapt to changing times, probation/parole agencies work to reform both organizational policy and practice. However, reform is much easier planned than implemented. With little or no formal training on strategic implementation, most community corrections agencies face a complex web of inter- and intra-organizational dynamics and contexts that make implementing reform challenging and sustaining reforms nearly impossible. Using survey and interview/observational data from both adult and juvenile probation in two U.S. states, this chapter examines organizational factors such as culture/climate, cynicism and commitment as key internal issues to consider prior to implementation of reform and during reform uptake. Using dual methods reveals while organizational actors respond similarly on organizational survey response measures, the observational data detail a more nuanced story for understanding implementation. Specifically, findings suggest a need for new training approaches, continued leadership development and improved communication at all organizational levels.

scholarly journals Some pennies are more equal than others: Inequitable school facilities investment in San Antonio, Texas

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marialena D. Rivera ◽  
Sonia Rey Lopez
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
School Districts ◽  
School Finance ◽  
San Antonio ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Educational Facilities ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Property Wealth ◽  
State And Local

In Texas, local taxpayers fund the majority of educational facilities construction and maintenance costs, with local wealth influencing facilities outcomes. The traditional school districts that comprise the predominantly Latino and segregated San Antonio area vary considerably in property wealth as well as district capacity and expertise. We conducted an analysis of 12 San Antonio area school districts to address the questions: 1) To what extent do state and local investments vary by district? 2) How do district actions and constraints affect facilities quality and equitable investment? Methods include descriptive quantitative analysis of facilities investment data and qualitative interviews with school district leaders, staff, and school finance experts. Examining Texas school finance data demonstrated the variance in school district investments in educational facilities. Despite some districts with lower property wealth exerting higher levels of tax effort, they were able to raise less money per student for educational facilities through interest and sinking taxes. Interview findings revealed that several districts acknowledge lacking the capacity to maintain high-quality facilities for all students. Respondents frequently criticized current state policies and funding for educational facilities as inadequate, inequitable, and inefficient and expressed a need for policy improvements in an era of increasing state disinvestment.

scholarly journals “What the Hell Is This, and Who the Hell Are You?” Role and Identity Negotiation in Research-Practice Partnerships

AERA Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 233285841984959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin C. Farrell ◽  
Christopher Harrison ◽  
Cynthia E. Coburn
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Identity Negotiation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
New Members ◽  
Role Negotiation ◽  
School District Leaders ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

In research-practice partnerships (RPPs), the line between researcher and practitioner can be blurred, and the roles for everyone involved may be unclear. Yet little is known about how these roles are negotiated and with what consequences for collaborative efforts. Guided by organizational theory, we share findings from a multiyear case study of one RPP, drawing on observations of partnership leadership meetings and interviews with school district leaders and partners. Role negotiation occurred in more than one third of leadership meetings, as evidenced by identity-referencing discourse. When roles were unclear, collaborative efforts stalled; once partners renegotiated their roles, it changed how they engaged in the work together. Several forces contributed to these dynamics, including the partner’s ambitious yet ambiguous identity and the introduction of new members to the group. This study offers implications for those engaged in partnership work and provides a foundation for future research regarding role negotiation in RPPs.

A Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach to Improving District Attendance Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 089590482097440
Author(s):  
Sarah Winchell Lenhoff ◽  
Erica B. Edwards ◽  
Joi Claiborne ◽  
Jeremy Singer ◽  
Kate Rollert French
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Collaborative Problem Solving ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
Collaborative Problem ◽  
Attendance Policy ◽  
Shared Narrative

Collaborative problem-solving research approaches have the potential to support improvement in educational policy and practice beyond instruction, by facilitating the development of a shared understanding of complex problems and creating social structures where district, community, and research partners can work together to solve them. This study investigates how findings from a developmental evaluation of a district attendance initiative were incorporated into the initiation process of a networked improvement community to create a shared narrative about how members conceptualized the problem of absenteeism and how they should adapt their levers to better align to that problem. The developmental learning process created an infrastructure within which district leaders and community partners could develop a partnership culture that facilitated change in policy. This study suggests the need to revisit the assumptions that have driven non-instructional improvement efforts and highlights the potential of collaborative problem-solving to strengthen the implementation of district reforms.

Getting to “We”: Collective Leadership Development

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin L. Cullen ◽  
Charles J. Palus ◽  
Donna Chrobot-Mason ◽  
Craig Appaneal
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Collective Leadership

Does NBPTS Certification Affect the Number of Colleagues a Teacher Helps With Instructional Matters?

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Frank ◽  
Gary Sykes ◽  
Dorothea Anagnostopoulos ◽  
Marisa Cannata ◽  
Linda Chard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Critical Force ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
National Board ◽  
Certified Teachers ◽  
Teaching Standards ◽  
Professional Teaching ◽  
Internal And External Validity

In addition to identifying and developing superior classroom teaching, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process is intended to identify and cultivate teachers who are more engaged in their schools. Here the authors ask, “Does NBPTS certification affect the number of colleagues a teacher helps with instructional matters?” If so, this could enhance the influence of NBPTS-certified teachers and their contributions to their professional communities. Using sociometric data within 47 elementary schools from two states, the authors find that NBPTS-certified teachers were nominated more as providing help with instruction than non-NBPTS-certified teachers. From analyses using propensity score weighting, the authors then infer that NBPTS certification affects the number of colleagues a teacher helps with instructional matters. The authors then quantify the robustness of their inference in terms of internal and external validity, finding, for example, that any omitted confounding variable would have to have an impact six times larger than that of their strongest covariate to invalidate their inference. Therefore, the potential value added by NBPTS-certified teachers as help providers has policy and practice implications in an era when teacher leadership has risen to the fore as a critical force for school improvement.

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