This study identified what attributes principals believe best exemplify a teacher leader in schools implementing the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program and what attributes they take into consideration when selecting an AVID elective teacher. After surveying more than 1,100 principals, we found that principals tended to rate…

Retaining teachers is a challenge for schools today. The number of teachers leaving the profession each year is costing schools in the United States billions of dollars annually. This article explores an alignment of the attributes of teacher leaders and conditions affecting teacher retention. Characteristics of teacher leaders are discussed and…

This report synthesizes what has been learned about how leaders in urban systems focus their leadership on the improvement of learning, and what it takes to support their leadership in these settings. The report brings together findings from three sub-study strands, concerned with efforts in seven urban districts to: a) invest staffing and other…

There is very little argument that one of the major developments to have impacted in schools in the past decade is the rapid and world-wide development of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly the Internet. In Hong Kong, reforms in the ICT teacher training policy, and the fact that Hong Kong is a "wired" city,…

This monograph offers an in-depth look at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) efforts, an investment of more than $140 million to reform mathematics and science programs in rural K-12 public education and tribal education. The authors seek to promote a foundation of contextual understanding for improving public…

The idea of inclusive education has featured very highly in the educational priorities of many educational systems. However, the same educational systems are very often criticised because of the difficulties of their teachers to respond to inclusive environments of learning, where all children, despite their abilities, receive equal opportunities…

In 1998, Washington State had 51,512 classroom teachers, but only 29 of them were National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). By 2009, the number of NBCTs in Washington had grown to 3,975--5th in the nation in total numbers, and 2nd in the nation in new teachers certifying that year. The state's successful strategy for increasing the number of…

In many schools across America, teachers enter their classrooms each morning only to close the door and teach with little to no peer interaction. Working closely with several schools, the Center for Teaching Quality sought to address this culture of isolation, as well as to reduce the attrition rate among teachers, by initiating professional…

Over the past couple of decades, K-12 schools have courageously struggled with the concept of shared, or distributed, leadership; however, the basic landscape of K-12 school leadership remains heavily hierarchical. Nonetheless, teachers can share leadership. This article explores productive forms of teacher leadership that are models of…

This study examined first-year teachers' (FYTs) experiences at high poverty and non-high poverty schools, exploring their emotional responses to critical incidents. Twenty-eight FYTs were interviewed. The results highlighted the influence of FYT's interactions with students, coworkers, administrators, and parents on their emotions. FYTs at high…

In the fast paced, fluid contemporary world, and in a headlong rush to invent the future, there is a tendency to jettison aspects of the past as flotsam and jetsam, unworthy of a place in steerage into the future. This paper argues that is some respects the ordinary heroes and heroines who enact school leaderships, and from their practice…

The expectation for schools to continually improve outcomes for students underscores the importance of tapping teacher leaders' contributions in school improvement and renewal efforts. As National Board (NB) certification has become a common feature of state and district policies to improve teaching and learning, it is worthwhile to explore how…

The imposition of the audit culture on schooling has severely limited teachers' freedom and dignity, exacerbating traditions of teacher education and employment that are infantilizing. If teachers are to participate in the politics that determine curriculum and pedagogy, education programs must provide differentiated credentials that welcome…

In spring 2012, after a year of intensive data analysis and planning, the colleges participating in Completion by Design announced strategies for creating clear, structured routes through college for more students, often referred to as accelerated, structured pathways to completion. These strategies contain elements unique to each college, but all…

Principals are critical to the success of any school improvement effort--from increasing academic rigor toward college- and career-ready standards to teacher evaluation and support. They ensure this success by building a strong, shared vision and leading effective implementation for staff, students, and families. The federal government has an…