This three-year ethnographic study analyzes the ways in which "toxic" school culture was produced through interactions among staff members at Centerville High School, an under-resourced high school where I conducted fieldwork from 2004-2007. Using discourse analysis, I examine adults' competing beliefs about low-income and minority students, and I…

Teacher leaders are the pack mules of effective school improvement because they carry the weight of responsibility for ensuring that reforms take root in the classroom and deepen the learning of all students. They continually think about the gap in schools between the real and the ideal, and the discrepancies that they witness compel them to push…

Over the last 24 months--with support from the National Education Association and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards--over 2,000 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) from North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Washington examined teacher recruitment and retention research and participated in structured…

This qualitative study examines the concept of teacher leadership from the perspective of those who practice it. Viewed through the lens of identity theory, analysis yielded five categories that define and describe a teacher leader--namely, as a decision maker, an educational role model, a positional designee, a supra-practitioner, and a…

Using data to redesign instruction is a means of increasing student achievement. Educators in Camden County (Georgia) Schools have used data from benchmark testing since 1999. They hired a commercial vendor to design a benchmark test that is administered four times a year and use the data to generate subject-area reports that can be further…

The authors argue that leadership networks when comprised of regional stakeholders including university faculty, school system administrators, and teacher leaders can begin to work together towards common reform goals. (Contains 1 figure.)

School change can be greatly impacted by teachers who take an active role in leadership. Teacher leaders should continue to expand their roles and influence in effecting the types of school reform that will lead to sustainable change in the quality of education. Since professional development is key to change, this chapter will address three areas…

This paper attempts to articulate the process and content of the coaching model developed by the staff who work in schools affiliated with the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC). BASRC is a 7-year-old nonprofit grant-funding organization with the mission to transform schools in the San Francisco Bay area, California into vital places to…

Makes an analogy that educational leadership in this changing society is a lot like paddling a kayak through calm waters. Suggests that if public school leaders do not instill a sense of urgency in times of calm waters, schools may lose focus and fail to evolve and change. (SG)

The premise of this article is to fashion a theoretical notion of teacher leadership that infuses a feminist ethic into the philosophical base of this timely and judicious movement. A feminist ethic is described in relationship to teacher leadership and a portrait of one teacher leader gleaned from an in-depth interview and observation exemplifies…

Lorraine Monroe, former teacher and administrator of Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute advises educators to adopt her model for reform. She reveals the right leadership qualities required to acquire change.

This article discusses how schools and school districts across the U.S. face a growing "leadership deficit." Accelerating retirements and reportedly shallow pools of applicants for administrative positions are raising alarms about future leadership. And all of this is happening just when schools will need the best leaders ever. Four…

Running an arts organization is not an easy undertaking in the United States. Political dramas, artistic differences, financial struggles and seemingly smaller audiences present great challenges to those who work to maintain professional arts in our communities. As arts organizations search for solutions, there is an underutilized resource in most…

While the technological society has rapidly moved into the digital-information age leadership has emerged as even more distinctive and essential for success. Experience teaches everyone that leadership can be exercised through noble uplifting pursuits or driven by corrupting repressive power. Leadership when positive creates a stimulating…

In this book, Robert Hess promotes teacher leadership as the critical component to achieving breakthrough results in school improvement. Developed from conversations and stories of dozens of teacher leaders and administrators, this book advocates that all teachers can and should take on leadership roles in their school. It contains many stories of…