The rapidly changing landscape of education necessitates that schools build the capacity to swiftly pivot to new modalities, curriculum, and operations models. Much of the onus for positively responding to these changes falls to teacher-leaders. In many schools, teacher leaders are untrained and designated by virtue of their seniority. The authors…

Recognizing that teacher leaders play an essential role in curriculum adoption and implementation, the Chicago Public Schools Department of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) partnered with Loyola University Chicago's Center for Science and Math Education to create a system of professional learning designed to advance teachers'…

Although the number of multilingual (ML) students continues to rise nationally, little scholarly attention has been paid to the education of "rural" ML students and families. There is critical need to better understand who rural ML students are and how to align their linguistic knowledge and strengths with appropriate instructional…

Annual teacher departure rates in the United States have held steady at about 16% for most of the 21st century. This high turnover has serious consequences at both the school and student levels (Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond, 2017; Ingersoll, 2004; NCES, 2014; Ronfeldt et al., 2012). Moreover, as we emerge from the pandemic, teachers are…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of special education teachers as they relate to teacher preparation programs and how they prepared teachers to work with and lead paraprofessionals. Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership approach and Adult Leadership Theory are the theoretical basis…

Ohio's Columbus City Schools developed a new urban grow-your-own principal pipeline. This pipeline emphasizes the cultivation of equity-centered principals who can address educational and social disparities in transformative and sustainable ways. Drawing from research and professional literature and from district and stakeholder engagements,…

Networked improvement communities (NICs) mark a promising approach to address the challenges of sustaining school reform. Whereas NICs are intended to help scale and sustain reforms, there is little evidence on how this works, as few NICs have existed long enough to be described over time. This study uses social network theory to understand what…

In March 2020, schools along with businesses across the United States began to shut down as a result of COVID-19. In addition, the slayings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor would spark civil unrest during the polarizing election year with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on a crash course to be elected as the commander…

The functions of teacher leaders and teacher educators, what they do, are critical in teacher education. This article presents the seemingly unexamined concept that some teacher leaders' practice includes a teacher educator dimension. Evidence that supports this claim is provided by exploring the interrelationship between teacher leader and…

Aligning human capital management system (HCMS) practices may strengthen the educator workforce by recruiting, selecting, placing, inducting, developing, compensating, and retaining educators with the desired competencies to advance an organization's instructional goals. Given the surge in teacher leadership (TL) programs across the United States,…

This dissertation sought to answer questions about the sensemaking processes of teacher leaders in a middle school that was part of a state-wide improvement process called the "Ohio Improvement Process (OIP)." The context of the research was a historically under-performing school that had been part of the OIP for 6 years at the time the…

This study investigates the impact of principal turnover on teacher leadership, using mixed methods to analyze teacher leadership in low and high principal turnover elementary schools. Data collection includes teacher surveys and interviews with principals in four low turnover and four high turnover schools. Quantitative results indicate…

Literature has examined teacher leadership (TL) roles, definitions, applications in schools, and, most recently, its presence in high-performing public schools, like the US National Blue Ribbon Schools (NBRS). This study featured principal and teacher leader interviews (n = 20) from NBRS recognized during the pandemic (2020 and 2021), alongside…

Have you ever deeply considered the intersections between research and education, particularly for second-level students? Traditionally, the convergence of these two realms is most often noted when considering the integration of research findings into educational practices or the involvement of, typically a small number, of students in research…

Creating an environment where teachers feel trusted and responsible is not just a suggestion but a necessity. In this essay, I underline the indispensable role of school leaders in balancing autonomy and accountability and acknowledge the fact that empowered teachers are the cornerstone of engaging and successful learning environments. I discuss…