Each August, teachers from around the state gather for the Arizona K-12 Center's Tech Camp, a week-long immersion in technology for the classroom. The Arizona K-12 Center's mission is to improve teaching and learning in Arizona's schools through high-quality professional development and teacher leadership. The formula Tech Camp follows is a simple…

Increasingly, there are calls for the school curriculum to reflect the real-world needs of students, such as the need to make difficult choices as citizens. The science curriculum is not exempt from these reappraisals of the relevance of what occurs in schools. Approaches to science involving social contexts are increasingly common, and with them…

If the culture of teaching is to change from one of isolation and professional limitations to one of collaboration and empowerment, administrators must change how they view and interact with teachers. Mr. Steel and Ms. Craig offer specific recommendations for how school leaders can support and facilitate teachers' growth. (Contains 9 endnotes.)

Sustaining results-oriented team efforts is hard work, and achieving diversified solutions to complex issues over time requires commitment an creativity. To support the momentum of learning communities, this book provides an illustrated collection of ready-to-use tools and examples of plans in action for results-oriented faculty and staff.…

"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…

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to understand what took place in Project Math, a special program developed by teachers who were trained in the Accelerated Schools Project in a Southern school. The Accelerated Schools Project is a comprehensive model of school reform, designed to improve school experiences and achievement for…

Teacher leadership development programs require careful design if they are to meet the challenges of today's science and mathematics education reform initiatives. This chapter describes the design of one such program using a design framework developed to plan and analyze effective professional development programs. The program, the California…

Since its inception in 1982, the California Mathematics Project (CMP) has sought to develop the mathematics skills and leadership capabilities of K-12 teachers through intensive summer institutes and a variety of academic year programs sponsored by regional CMP sites. This chapter focuses on ways in which one of the fifteen regional CMP sites, the…

The implementation of new standards in science and mathematics education necessitates an intensive and comprehensive professional development of science and mathematics teachers. Israel, which currently is in the process of reforming school science and mathematics, constructed a continuous lifelong framework for such professional development. This…

The involvement of teachers in the school reform debate has spurred an unprecedented focus on the need for teacher leadership. During the past decade, teachers have asserted their own version of leadership (differing from administrative or managerial versions) and embraced essential aspects of genuine professions. Emerging models in Rochester, New…

Examines the expectation for teachers to participate in school leadership and, based on results of a recent study, draws conclusions and makes recommendations regarding the kinds of professional development that would engender competent and effective involvement of teachers in the leadership of schools. Considers the extent to which preparation in…

Describes a visit with an educational leader, Louise Rosenblatt. Notes that Rosenblatt is a teacher, and from her teaching, both in the classroom and in other forums, she has led educators to think about teaching, and about what is valuable. Notes that for secondary teachers, the National Council of Teachers of English's Secondary Section offers a…

The National Writing Project's professional development approach reflects a shift from the tradition of theory dictating practice, maintaining that engaging teachers in teaching teachers empowers them to meet the challenges of increasing student diversity. By providing support in risk-free settings, teachers can collaborate as educational leaders,…

Describes the experience of three teacher leaders who attempt to lead from within their classrooms. Interview and biographical data indicate that these teacher leaders navigate the structure of schools, nurture relationships, model professional growth, help others with change, and challenge the status quo by raising children's voices. However,…

Educators in the United States are being asked to do more with less: school budgets are shrinking, principals are struggling to be instructional leaders in the face of huge management issues, and teachers are trying to meet the needs of increasingly diverse students at a time when a standardized, one-size-fits-all curriculum is mandated. The tenor…