The vision for science teaching in the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards requires a radical departure from traditional science teaching. Science literacy is defined as three-dimensional (3D), in which students engage in science and engineering practices to develop and apply science disciplinary ideas…

As a new teacher, what will you do when you realize there is an aspect of your practice that you want to improve? Will you make a plea to your administration to attend an expensive workshop? Will you try to cram a class into your already jam-packed schedule? You may even try to hide your weakness and hope nobody notices. Is there another option to…

Do teacher leaders in your school mainly fill the traditional roles of department chair or grade-level representative? Or do they lead their peers in collaborative teams whose primary focus is improving student learning? Terry Wilhelm, director of the School Leadership Center for Riverside County Office of Education in California, says that…

Increasing emphasis has been placed on leadership within educational theory, policy and practice. Drawing on a wide range of academic literature and policy documents, this paper explores how the discourse of leadership has shifted and for what purposes. The authors are critical of the lack of conceptual underpinning for that discourse, evident…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) have gained considerable attention in education. However, PLCs are dependent on how group members collectively work and learn towards shared goals on improving teaching and learning. This would require leadership to support meaningful and productive interactions within PLC contexts, and hence, the…

The primary purpose of this research is to illuminate perceptions and lived experiences of secondary teachers through their involvement in a Professional Learning Community (PLC). Teachers' experiences within a PLC were examined for patterns of cultivated leadership. The second purpose of the study was to identify variables that either promote or…

Models of response to intervention (RtI) are being widely implemented in schools across the country in order to increase effective teaching and remove barriers to student learning. The implementation of RtI is greatly facilitated when teachers and staff see themselves as a professional learning community (PLC). This article begins with an…

Imagine, for a second, a school where teachers see themselves as leaders and work together to ensure that all children have access to engaging, high quality instruction every day. How might these teachers define teacher leadership and articulate its purpose? What suggestions would they offer about how teacher leadership can be grown and supported?…

Teacher leadership has been variously defined but generally understood as expanding teachers' visions beyond their own classrooms. Bilingual education teachers, working with emergent bilingual students in often marginalized situations and contexts, must develop a critical consciousness to embrace leadership identities. This requires engaging in…

High-quality professional development opportunities for teachers are centrally important to improve instructional effectiveness and increase student learning. In particular, professional development is needed to help teachers with the instructional shifts required in implementing the college and career-readiness standards (CCRS). The CCRS require…

Research has shown that adequate support from the school environment is necessary to help beginning teachers in applying differentiated instruction (DI), but how schools can aid in this process remains unclear. This qualitative study explores how professional learning communities (PLCs), an indicator of a supportive school environment, can enhance…

Educator Excellence Innovation Program (EEIP) is a Texas Education Agency (TEA) grant program that funds innovation in teacher supports and leadership opportunities. This report describes feedback from teachers at the six EEIP schools and summarizes implementation in the third year of the program.

There are two types of school leadership initiatives. One takes existing leaders and gives them increasing leadership responsibilities. The other engages in an organic process that grows leaders from a crop of teachers who, at first may not appear to be leaders at all. This article presents a story about the second type of initiative and how it…

Richard DuFour, a leading advocate for creating professional learning communities in schools, shares his insights on why teaching has become an "embattled profession" and the steps teachers and school leaders can take to enhance teachers' practice and their working lives. DuFour explains how recent reforms aimed at educators themselves…

Professional learning communities in the early childhood education sector have been under-researched. The focus on collaborative learning, collective enquiry and shared leadership of such communities makes them worthy of study in order to establish their relevance to the sector. One of the foci of this research involving case studies of different…