This present phenomenological case study explored collective class actuation as experienced by a seminary teacher in a Western State. Collective class actuation results when teachers or students perceive their class group as being in an optimal performing state of dynamic equilibrium. The participant of this present study sought dynamic…

School leaders are constantly trying to find alternative ways to leverage and explore teacher leadership potential in their school building(s). Teachers leaders that are willing to go above and beyond their general duties. Teacher leaders are the type of educators that fall under the motif of potentially taking on additive responsibilities that…

Currently, there is limited research examining the barriers that immigrant professionals experience when becoming a bilingual teacher in the United States. This study examines the trajectory of a Mexican national, trained as a teacher in his home country, who became a bilingual dual-language educator in a Central Texas school district. Drawing on…

This study investigates the experiences of teacher leaders working to facilitate professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on inquiry into disciplinary literacy at the high school level. Specifically, we examine the moves that team leaders made to preserve focus and learning within their PLCs and how participants experienced their…

This book focuses on the impact of sustained and evolving collaborations, showcasing research and scholarship in a faculty group--consisting of 28 professors from five regional universities--meeting and supporting each other since 2002. Originally an innovation introduced by Cheryl J. Craig and funded by a reform movement, the Faculty Academy…

In the era of standards-based reforms, informal teacher leadership is a critical factor in realizing instructional improvement. In this paper, we report on data from a one-year study of four early career mathematics teachers engaging in professional development around Common Core mathematical practices and leadership. Our findings highlight how…

The use of teacher peer groups is a prevalent strategy for school-based professional development and instructional improvement. Facilitation of such groups is an increasingly vital dimension of teacher leadership as a component of school improvement efforts. Drawing on a qualitative study of facilitation of teacher peer groups, the article…

This study intends to identify some key factors in creating and sustaining school-based teacher professional learning communities (PLCs) through a case study of a South Korean public high school. To achieve this, the study identified some essential infrastructure, preparation, and necessary social organization for creating PLCs. The ideal unit and…

Purpose: Teacher learning communities (TLCs) formed within subject departments are conceptualized as reform platform for facilitating school improvement and teacher development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which three TLCs were structured and managed for generating change capability in secondary schools in Hong Kong.…

Through collaboration between one rural southeastern university and a local rural school system of high-poverty in southeast Georgia (a pseudonym, Justice County School System [JCSS]), a mixed method case study analysis was conducted to examine a system-wide professional learning initiative. The goal of this initiative was to provide professional…

NGSS Early Implementers is a four-year initiative created to help eight California school districts and two charter management organizations, supported by WestEd's K-12 Alliance, implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Designed for professional developers and administrators, this report describes 10 tools and processes that are…

Purpose: This study examines leadership development in three high schools in urban, suburban, and rural districts. Teacher leadership, leadership development, and work design and redesign literature informed the design of a model that was used as a lens to analyze each school across diverse contexts. Research methods: Data were collected from each…

A range of different constructs are used to describe and define the way that leadership operates in education settings. This range can be presented as binary categories of leadership, in which either one, or the other form of leadership is preferred, but not both. An example of this is the contrast made between solo and distributed leadership. A…

The purpose of this study was to understand what knowledge, skills, and practices teacher leaders learn from exercising leadership with other teachers in their school settings and how, if at all, they learn from experience and in communities of practice (CoPs), that is, groups of people with shared interest in a particular domain (Lave &…

As a profession, we must have a shift in both perspective and practice to transform teaching at all levels. Are pre-service education classrooms preparing students to be flexible, adapt to new situations, and rely on their own expertise and understanding while seeking support when needed? Lieberman and Miller (2004) identify the following shifts…