This book explores how teacher leadership is an intrinsic and important part of school and classroom improvement. It investigates teacher leadership in action and considers the roles, responsibilities and influence of teachers who lead. It considers the implications of teacher leadership for teachers' professional development and focuses on ways in which this important form of leadership can be fostered and enhanced. The central message in this book is that teachers play a critical role in leading improvement in the classroom and school level and that this form of leadership contributes directly to raising achievement among learners. Following a preface by the series editor; and an introduction, this book is divided into three parts. Part One, Teacher Leadership: Theoretical Background, contains the first two chapters: (1) Teacher Leadership; and (2) Distributed Leadership. Part Two, Enhancing Teacher Leadership, continues with the next three chapters: (3) Building Professional Learning Communities; (4) Meaningful Professional Development; and (5) Generating and Supporting Teacher Leadership. Part Three, Recent Studies and Evidence, presents chapters: (6) Teacher Leadership and Teacher Effectiveness; (7) Teacher Leadership and Differential Effectiveness; (8) Teacher-Led School Improvement: A Research Study; (9) Successful Teacher Leadership; (10) Emergent Teacher Leadership; and (11) Restricted Teacher Leadership. Part Four, Future Directions for Teacher Leadership, contains the final two chapters: (12) Nurturing Teacher Leadership; and (13) Improving Schools through Teacher Leadership. A list of references; and an index are also included.