Challenges current orthodoxy of school organizations and seeks to extend the current debate about distributed leadership. Offers an inclusive view of teacher leadership. Focuses on learning-centered development in which teachers act strategically to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Includes illustrative cases and proposals for…

"Teachers are leaders when they function in professional communities to affect student learning; contribute to school improvement; inspire excellence in practice; and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvement" (Childs-Bowen, Moller, & Scrivner, 2000, p. 28). Enhancing teacher leadership can help schools and districts reach the…

The Washington Initiative (WI) was created in 2001 as an effort to help strengthen education reform in Washington by addressing teacher quality. The major strategies of the WI were to increase the number of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and to support the leadership of these teachers in local…

In this age of high accountability, teacher quality is receiving more attention than ever before. Research that investigates ways to increase teacher quality is much needed, making this study a timely addition to the literature. Although increases in student achievement related to teacher quality have yet to be adequately documented, the research…

A close relationship between teaching quality and student achievement is documented by a steady flow of research since the early 1990s. A cutting-edge rural school is tapping the talent of its National Board-certified teachers to transform teaching and learning.

This article deals with the use of Problem-Based Learning. The emphasis on high stakes testing, classroom size, diversity, school violence, and much more impact public education and professional preparation programs relative to teacher education. Issues are presented dealing with Accrediting Commissions and Professional Organizations, and the use…

To increase student achievement, schools and districts are hiring teachers as leaders to support peers in improving teaching and learning. Their roles are variously called coach, school-based staff developer, instructional specialists, or program facilitator. Yet though many have exceptional teaching skills, they seldom have a deep understanding…

The purpose of this article is to review the research on policy and professional development undertaken by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) and to suggest how this work has advanced knowledge in these areas. This research provides a base for understanding the relations between effective teaching and learning in…

This study documents the perspectives of administrators in Washington about National Board certification and the leadership of Board-certified teachers (NBCTs) in their schools and districts. The study focuses on principals' and superintendents' perspectives on the following: (1) The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the…

This study examined teacher leadership as a step beyond the traditional teacher role, developing a profile of the teacher leader. Formal and informal teacher leaders responded to statements that revealed identifiable descriptors of characteristics or attributes of effective teacher leaders who lead beyond the classroom. These descriptors were…

This study examined the relationship between personality characteristics and National Board Certification among teachers who had achieved National Board Certification, teachers who were in the process of completing the requirements for National Board Certification, and teachers who had not attempted National Board Certification. It identified…

Borrowing from theories of adult organizations, investigates how teacher leadership style is related to use of power, social climate, and student-affective performance in a sample of 678 classrooms in 190 Hong Kong primary schools. A teacher's leadership and use of power are interrelated in leading a class of students. Also, leadership style is…

The purpose of this study was to gather initial evidence about the performance of the Leadership and Urban Network for Chicago (LAUNCH) principals and National Board Certified teachers, particularly whether they are building the capacity of their schools to improve student learning, and for LAUNCH principals, whether learning gains are larger in…

Meeting the requirement for highly qualified teachers as outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act has left school districts in a quandary, especially those that serve a population of students deemed "at-risk" and where attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers is difficult. One professional development program based on…

This paper examines teachers' perceptions of their professionalism under conditions of educational reforms in government primary schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Conceiving teacher professionalism in terms of four dimensions (teacher efficacy, teacher practice, teacher leadership and teacher collaboration) it reports a quantitative survey research…