Describes members' responsibilities within effective middle school interdisciplinary teams. States that principals are responsible for hiring, orientation, teacher empowerment, and staff development, while existing team members help new members by building a new team identity and developing collaborative relationships. Asserts that new teachers…

The paper develops a conceptual framework for teacher leadership and empirically verifies the existence of teacher leadership skills through a survey of 170 teachers. The model of transformational leadership, based on several leadership theories, is presented to advance increased teacher participation in instructional leadership. The model…

This study examined teachers' attraction to school council service and factors that impacted that attraction. Participants were randomly selected public school teachers enrolled in graduate education courses at three Kentucky state universities. They performed three tasks. First, they completed a biographical form that yielded descriptive…

Curriculum standards can help educators achieve important student outcomes. However, only through collaboration, empowerment, and leadership will meaningful school improvement occur. This paper examines the importance of (1) collaborative action research to help teachers assess and improve their own practice and (2) leadership support to encourage…

Many schools across the country face persistent teacher working condition challenges that are closely related to high teacher turnover rates and chronic difficulties in recruiting and retaining teachers. Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) research examining working conditions survey results in both North Carolina and South Carolina demonstrates…

This paper discusses the importance of teachers moving out of managerial roles into leadership roles. As this transformation occurs, real educational change and the empowerment of teacher leaders will take place. Managerial style teachers traditionally have clear expectations and set standards for their students. Activities, outcomes, and…

With No Child Left Behind's call for highly qualified teachers, the stakes for recruiting and retaining teachers have never been more important. Alabama, like other states, has struggled to develop policies and programs that effectively staff all classrooms with quality educators. The Center for Teaching Quality, with the support of SERVE, has…

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…

Constructivism is a response to the depersonalized hugeness of our society and institutions. The constructivist model for education offers a way to decentralize the authority of a large and distant administration and return decision-making to the local level, that is, to learning communities, teaching teams, and individual classroom teachers. This…

Teachers and students must become empowered to be active participants in educational improvement and school decision making. They need opportunities to develop professionally. Empowered schools and their principals are very different from schools with little empowerment. Their principals understand how to foster empowering environments. Empowered…

This book presents updated research on and examples of teacher leadership, offering practical tips for educators at all levels, tools for self-assessment, and a new vision of the future. The eight chapters are: (1) "What Is Teacher Leadership?" (e.g., definition of teacher leadership, roles for teacher leaders, and who is responsible); (2)…

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…

Standards-based education is likely to remain prevalent in education far into the future. Effective leaders must protect and support teachers, who are the heart of every school. Chapter 1, "The First Key: Understanding Motivation," explores the importance of motivation in promoting change in schools. Teachers and staff can choose to…

This book is about educational reform, focusing on the role of teachers. Chapter 1 explores the reasons behind the chronic shortage of good teachers. Chapter 2 presents a brief history of teaching in America to explain the structure and organization of schools, the feminization of teaching, the qualifications of those who choose to go into…

This booklet contains a summary of a study of private schools. The study examined private schools, how they differ by type (Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian), and how they differ from public schools. Data were collected in 1999 and 2000 from an integrated set of survey instruments that collected information on a wide range of topics…