Teacher Leader KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Teacher Leader KnowledgeBase aims to raise awareness of the teacher leader role at the district level and to support teachers aspiring to the teacher leader role through master's degree-level university programs.

Task 2: Identify the Teacher Leader Role

Guideline: Prior to moving forward with a teacher leader model, a district needs to identify the approach or model it wishes to pursue. Doing so defines the road map for moving forward. The direction a district pursues may be determined by initiatives undertaken through the state department of education.

Resources

Tools

Research Brief: Teacher Leadership

This research brief on teacher leadership was prepared by the Fairfax County (Virginia) Public Schools Department of Professional Learning and Accountability, Office of Program Evaluation. The brief provides an overview of the issues associated with teachers in leadership roles. It may be useful as a tool to introduce the concept to school board members, administrators, and teachers.

Webinar: Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0

The Teacher Leadership webinar will highlight a new toolkit from the Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL) Center and Leading Educators – the Teacher Leadership Toolkit 2.0 (https://gtlcenter.org/technical-assis...) – to help states and districts make decisions about creating new or strengthening existing teacher leadership approaches. This webinar features current teacher leaders sharing about their roles and their success stories.

Practical Tips

Teacher Leader Book Resources

This document provides a list of teacher leader book resources used by the Kansas State Department of Education while developing the Kansas Teacher Leader program. Educators interested in the teacher leader role might find these books useful.

References

Leadership at the School Level

This link is to the Spring 2005 issue of the Journal of Staff Development published by Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff Development Council). The theme of this issue is leadership at the school level. This issue provides articles addressing distributive leadership and teacher leaders. Learning Forward members are able to access the articles. Non-members are able to purchase any specific article.

Teachers as Leaders

This link is to the September 2007 issue of ASCD's Educational Leadership publication. The articles in this issue addressing teachers as leaders may be useful in defining teacher leader roles.

Ten Roles for Teacher Leaders

This link is to an article in the September 2007 issue of ASCD's Educational Leadership. The article suggests ten roles for teacher leaders to contribute to their schools.

The Many Faces of Leadership

This link is to an article by Charlotte Danielson, author of Teacher Leadership That Strengthens Professional Practice. The article addresses "Why Teacher Leadership?," "Qualities and Skills of Teacher Leaders," "What Do Teacher Leaders Do?," "Conditions that Promote Teacher Leadership," and "The Need for Teacher Leadership." This article may be useful to educators exploring the role of teacher leaders in their schools.

What Does the Research Tell Us About Teacher Leadership?

The September 2005 Research Brief from the former Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement reviews a study on the state of research on teacher leadership. The article summarizes the state of the research as of 2004, identifies school culture characteristics that can impact teacher leadership, offers a model for how teacher leadership fits with school improvement efforts, and lists challenges to the development of teacher leaders.