This study examined what teachers needed to learn to teach in new ways and how teachers developed those capacities. It also investigated the additional skills and orientations teachers needed to take on leadership roles and how teacher leaders acquired their ability to lead their colleagues. Data came from a 2-year study of 10 exemplary teacher…

This paper reports the findings of three integrated studies initiated by principal/researchers in an elementary, middle, and high school. The purpose of integrating the studies was to compare and contrast teacher leadership in the following areas: characteristics of teacher leadership, motivation for teachers to assume leadership roles, supports…

This report presents the results of a study that examined the role and activities of reform coaches. Positions for reform coaches have been developed in a number of schools and districts in the San Francisco Bay Area through the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC). The study examined the reform coach role, the functions it provides to the…

This study looked at teachers in their 2nd-4th years of teaching to compare their professional activities with what current studies indicate are teacher leadership behaviors and characteristics. The study sought to determine whether the University of Southern California's teacher preparation program taught the professional skills that elementary…

This paper examines what it would take to expand the number of teacher leaders in mathematics, noting that one of the major obstacles facing reform in mathematics education is the lack of adequate preparation among teachers currently teaching mathematics. The paper highlights experiences that have promoted the development of three middle school…

This study examined 10 urban middle school teacher leaders who played significant roles in their districts' and states' large-scale standards reform efforts. Interviews, observations, and shadowing were conducted during the first year to examine the teachers' scope of work. Observations focused on teachers working with a range of students and with…

This qualitative study examined the nature of teacher leadership as it was perceived by 12 inservice elementary school teachers. Data collection involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the teachers. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis. Results indicated that half of the respondents were unfamiliar with the term…

A study was conducted to identify and measure theoretical dimensions of teacher empowerment in 307 venture capital schools in Ohio. (The Ohio state legislature established venture capital grants to support school improvement; these grants serve as catalysts for local schools to redesign their internal structures.) Data were gathered from 4,091…

This study investigated how teachers described current decision making structures, culture, and the power/micropolitics of their work, examining how they used their agency to accomplish work and make decisions together under Florida's reform. Data came from interviews with 1996 and 1997 elementary educators selected as teachers of the year. The…

This paper describes a framework which captures the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teacher leaders who demonstrate the ability to work effectively with students and peers in their own classrooms and beyond. Data come from 10 in-depth studies of recognized, urban, middle-school teachers. During the study, participants came together twice…

This study investigated professional development as provided through the Teacher Leadership Academy (TLA) model used in rural Illinois area school districts and district consortia. Surveys were distributed to TLA participants that sought their perceptions of the desirability, involvement, and feasibility of school reform in general and the…

This paper synthesizes the results of three case studies that focus on urban and suburban elementary teachers who are engaged in new roles: as learners, as clinical educators, and as leaders. Results of the studies suggest that epistemological issues; workplace contexts; and an ethic of care, which is especially noticeable in collegial…

Findings from a study, which examined the development of leadership skills and roles among the teachers in a professional development school (PDS), indicate the emergence of a nontraditional teacher leadership paradigm at the PDS. In contrast to typical teacher leadership models, in which carefully selected and screened teachers are placed in…

A study was conducted to determine which of the following modes of professional practice is the dominant mode used by Ohio family and consumer science (FCS) teachers when implementing a refined critical science based curriculum: technical-rational; reflective-ethical; and process-oriented. The target population consisted of 1,013 secondary…