The complexity of contemporary schools necessitates principals supporting teachers to become teacher leaders while also supporting their instructional practices. Drawing on data from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey, principal and teacher surveys examined how principal instructional support and a climate of shared leadership are…

The Massachusetts Innovation Schools initiative authorized educators to operate with increased autonomy and flexibility. This descriptive case study examines the early experiences of teachers in one innovation school. We explore the innovations teachers leveraged to build capacity, with particular attention to how they enacted teacher leadership…

Professional development in policy for K-12 teachers is relatively rare despite the indelible role that teachers play in policy implementation. This study describes the experiences of five teachers who completed the 10-month Texas Education Policy Fellowship Program. Results showed that the experienced classroom teachers garnered the most policy…

This phenomenological inquiry investigated the often-overlooked negative aspects of subject leaders'/coordinators' influence on teacher leadership development, utilizing semi-structured interviews with 11 teachers who relinquished leadership roles due to these reasons. Findings suggest that subject leaders/coordinators impede teacher leadership…

National Board Certification (NBC) is a voluntary yet advanced teaching credential that goes beyond the typical state licensure requirement (NEA, 2015). The purpose of this study is to determine the perspectives of teachers who have completed and achieved NBC, and specifically how it has impacted them as classroom teachers. Using data collected…

Teachers who organize for educational equity and social justice generally do so through teacher-led professional networks. Community organizations (COs) that seek to support such teacher leaders can face challenges in working with their organic and often horizontally organized networks. This article examines three case studies of COs that…

The Teacher Leader Model Standards (TLMS) were created to stimulate discussion around the leadership responsibilities teachers assume in schools. This study used the TLMS to gauge the self-reported leadership responsibilities of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). The NBCTs reported engaging in all domains of the TLMS, most frequently with…

Counterintuitively, the more one develops as a leader, the less of a leader one becomes. What do great leaders do? Great leaders are ambitious first and foremost for the cause, the mission, the work--not themselves. Educators as "serving leaders" sense that every action they take, together with every decision that they make, either…

This personal narrative describes the efforts of a teacher education institution to understand and introduce teacher leadership into the preparation of teachers. The author provides the history and context of the institution as well as the structures and processes the institution used to achieve these goals. The article concludes with lessons…

This is a three-part essay featuring six teacher educators and one classroom teacher researcher. Part one describes faculty efforts to build curriculum for teacher research, scaffold the research process, and analyze outcomes. Part two shares one teacher researcher's experience using an equity audit tool in several contexts: her teaching practice,…

In this collaborative study, university researchers introduced the short video clips of teaching and learning within two elementary schools; these clips were shared in site faculty meetings to encourage dialogue and collaboration. Researchers conducted pre- and post-surveys with teachers and pre- and post-interviews with principals to understand…

Drawing on the author's experience as director of a long-lived school-university partnership, this essay describes how one such organization can "do it right" and enhance the development of teacher leadership in schools. It also provides a cautionary tale about how that same organization can "do it wrong" and achieve the…

Leadership is a skill that can be learned through professional development, mentoring, and leadership development programs. In Ontario, the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP) helps educators develop their leadership skills through a Ministry of Education--funded project that addresses student learning needs in their classrooms. This…

In response to increased performance expectations, schools and districts are turning to nonsupervisory, school-based, instructional teacher leader roles to help improve teachers' instruction and enhance student learning. Increased opportunities to learn about teacher leadership may facilitate the implementation and institutionalization of…

Since PreK-12 student achievement is the primary focus of schools, all teachers are called to serve as teachers leaders and improve learning on their campuses. Rather than waiting until they have gained experience, teachers can begin acquiring the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teacher leaders during their preservice programs. Drawing upon…