Principals must create the infrastructure to support teacher-leadership roles. They can transform school leadership by creating opportunities for teachers to lead; building professional-learning communities; providing quality, results-driven professional development; and celebrating innovation and teacher expertise. Celebrating innovation and…

While many efforts to foster teacher leadership focus on the power, authority, and control that can come with teachers' formal positions in organizational hierarchies, case studies of 4 teachers document how expertise, credibility, and influence can come together in teachers' activities regardless of the formal positions they hold. These teachers'…

On August 5, 2006, more than 300 South Carolina National Board Certified Teachers[R] (NBCTs) assembled in Columbia at a policy summit to address the vexing problem of recruiting and retaining accomplished teachers in high-needs schools. Before this summit, the NBCTs read a number of background papers and research summaries. During the summit, they…

There is evidence demonstrating that when young children are part of a learning environment that is based on high standards/expectations, administrative and teacher leadership and continuity in learning opportunities across these grades, the better their developmental outcomes will be through grade three and in future years. By experiencing an…

The Washington Initiative (WI) was created in 2001 as an effort to help strengthen education reform in Washington by addressing teacher quality. The major strategies of the WI were to increase the number of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and to support the leadership of these teachers in local…

In this age of high accountability, teacher quality is receiving more attention than ever before. Research that investigates ways to increase teacher quality is much needed, making this study a timely addition to the literature. Although increases in student achievement related to teacher quality have yet to be adequately documented, the research…

This article discusses the lack of female teachers in leadership positions. In 1988, The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) commissioned a study to address the administrator shortage. They found that the top three reasons candidates gave for not applying…

The literature on teacher leadership suggests that the notion has developed over time and some have argued that this development comprises three stages or "waves" that progressively delink the idea from the formal organizational hierarchy. The third wave emphasizes that teacher leadership is a process rather than a positional concept and notes…

The involvement of teachers in the school reform debate has spurred an unprecedented focus on the need for teacher leadership. During the past decade, teachers have asserted their own version of leadership (differing from administrative or managerial versions) and embraced essential aspects of genuine professions. Emerging models in Rochester, New…

Examines the expectation for teachers to participate in school leadership and, based on results of a recent study, draws conclusions and makes recommendations regarding the kinds of professional development that would engender competent and effective involvement of teachers in the leadership of schools. Considers the extent to which preparation in…

Today's teachers work in an environment that requires them to meet a multitude of expectations from students, parents, principals, and the community. With the spotlight increasingly on school performance, there is a need for educational leaders to build an authentic learning climate. The fully engaged teacher leader is central to this climate.…

This article considers the issues of teacher leadership in subject-based online communities across ten geographically dispersed schools with respect to authority, volunteerism, and sustainability. The conclusions drawn are that such leadership must be shared if the community is to be sustained and that, while the use of ICT facilitates the…

Now a major force Board for Professional Teaching Standards was established in 1987 to set high, rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and practice and to certify teachers via performance-based assessments. National Board Certification, which complements state licensing, helps empower teachers through mentoring and school…

Our cultural biases are inclined toward managerial authority and salvational leadership images. Principals should be abolished. No educator should be permanently removed from teaching children in a classroom. Administrative tasks should be assumed on a rotating basis; after serving in an administrative capacity, educators should return to the…

In an era of dwindling resources, compelling student needs, burgeoning violence, and escalating performance expectations for students and faculty alike, classroom teachers are confronted with new demands that challenge their traditional roles as educators. The leap from a productive individual contributor, working essentially behind a closed…