How educational leaders initiate and sustain change is often hotly debated by those inside and outside of the system. Given the many reform initiatives of the past 30 years, and the resulting changes public educators have made lurching from initiative to initiative, one must ask if public education has truly improved. The answer to why public…

Reading proficiency is crucial to academic success across all content areas. This study takes a close look at student reading achievement over the course of one full school year and the impact that the quality of teacher-student interactions have on student reading growth at the middle school level. The middle school level students participating…

This article presents findings from a two-year, qualitative study of K-12 teacher Fellows involved in a grant-funded professional development program. Aiming to foster sustainable change in districts and support emergent teacher leadership, the program enabled Fellows to collaboratively reflect on practice and develop as teacher leaders who lead…

This study examines secondary mathematics and science teacher perceptions of teacher leadership during the first year of a professional development program focused on preparing teacher leaders in rural schools. It also begins to offer details as to what content-focused teacher leadership looks like and how teachers in rural schools enact teacher…

Purpose: This study examines the relational dynamics between teachers and formal teacher leaders (TLs). We examine the association between relationship structure and leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and the extent to which LMX mediates the relationship between social network (SN) measures of dyadic relationships and TL influence.…

Purpose: This study examines the relational dynamics between teachers and formal teacher leaders (TLs). We examine the association between relationship structure and leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and the extent to which LMX mediates the relationship between social network (SN) measures of dyadic relationships and TL influence.…

Contemporary professional development efforts have shifted away from a deficit model toward the acknowledgment of the agency and ability of teachers to evaluate and direct their own professional learning. This article describes how middle school science teachers can take charge of their own learning by initiating and participating in…

When Okema Owens Simpson, the sixth-grade Multi-Classroom Leader (MCL) for English language arts (ELA) at Ranson IB Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina, plans her schedule for the coming week, she provides what her teachers need most: daily, on-the-job coaching; lesson planning; practice in delivering lessons; co-teaching or modeling a…

Research has affirmed the importance of principals and mentors in supporting novice teachers; however, little is known about how teacher leaders contribute to this work. We employed a mixed methods design to examine teacher leaders' contributions to induction by surveying principals, teachers, and other staff (n = 246) and interviewing teacher…

The effective schools literature has shown that school-contextual aspects matter for students' academic and social outcomes. A potential link here may be the quality of the relationships between teachers and students, but few studies have investigated whether features of school effectiveness are in fact associated with students' perceptions of…

In 2013, the Donald McKay K-8 School in East Boston, was among the lowest-performing schools in Massachusetts, ranked in the bottom 6 percent of schools statewide. The McKay's journey to the school it is today was made possible by a significant shift in adult culture at the school. A learner mindset and a commitment to continuous improvement are…

Student engagement in learning is critical to the development of lifelong learners. Many research studies have found that student engagement is congruent with teacher student interaction, school culture, and student achievement. However, in the research literature, little has been documented about the role of the school leader in ensuring teachers…

This study considers how configurations of leadership practices impact perceptions of implementation during large-scale reform: implementation in the United States of Common Core State Standards. Comments of 951 respondents to a national teacher survey were examined. Analysis revealed the hybrid nature of leadership enactment with a range of…

Current educational research identifies the significant relationship between principal leadership and teacher retention. In recent years, distributive leadership has been praised as a supportive leadership framework for school improvement. Given its success with transforming schools, distributive leadership has been suggested as a positive…

The integration of computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS) into formal K-12 learning experiences are critical for students to be competent 21st Century problem solvers. Building student competency with these areas is dependent upon educators who have the pedagogical content expertise to integrate CT and CS within their disciplines…