Teacher leaders find online support
New website illustrates what it means to be a teacher leader
Individuals in the principal’s office or the administration building defined “leadership” in P-12 education, for decades. Today, as teachers are tasked with influencing student learning as well as collaborating with their peers and principals, a new definition of leadership is emerging that puts teachers front and center.
“Teacher leadership” is becoming more clearly defined through a new website designed to illustrate how P-12 teachers can assert their influence within the classroom. Teacher Leader Model Standards — the nation’s first formal set of guidelines on teacher leadership, which were released in May by the Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium — are outlined as well. The standards were created during a multi-year, roundtable effort led by representatives of education organizations, state education agencies, educators and higher education institution representatives, including Meredith Curley, dean of the College of Education at University of Phoenix.
The website is currently live in a limited context and will be further developed by the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ). It will feature related research on teacher leadership and provide real-life examples of teacher leaders through the use of videos, articles and books, among other resources, says Ali Kliegman, a policy associate with CTQ.
“Rather than state what teacher leadership means, the website will show it,” says Kliegman. By 2012, CTQ also hopes to incorporate a private, online community for teacher leaders within the website that will encourage further discussions, she notes.
The intent behind the site — co-sponsored by University of Phoenix, Educational Testing Service, National Education Association and the Education Commission of the States — is to inspire more teachers to team with principals and superintendents to complement each other’s leadership qualities, says Dean Curley.
“Teacher leaders exist across this country and oftentimes are informally recognized for their contributions although … these teacher leaders play a really relevant role in making positive changes within our schools and districts while helping to push the needle on school achievement,” says the dean, whom the consortium tapped in 2010 to help finalize the standards. University of Phoenix was asked to participate, Curley says, because of its familiarity with various state and federal regulations and policies. The University also offers a Master of Arts in Education/Teacher Leadership.
“This is really a grassroots opportunity for individuals to begin discussions at the school or district-wide level to ask themselves what teacher leadership looks like for them,” adds Dean Curley.
About the standards
The Teacher Leader Model Standards, Dean Curley emphasizes, represent a flexible framework of qualities, or “domains” representative of teacher leaders:
- Domain I: Fostering a collaborative culture to support educator development and student learning
- Domain II: Accessing and using research to improve practice and student learning
- Domain III: Promoting professional learning for continuous improvement
- Domain IV: Facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning
- Domain V: Promoting the use of assessments and data for school and district improvement
- Domain VI: Improving outreach and collaboration with families and community
- Domain VII: Advocating for student learning and the profession
The standards, while formalized, aren’t necessarily a guideline for state agencies, for example, to establish related certification programs, Dean Curley notes. “This is not a checklist. Teacher leaders do not have to possess skills in each domain,” she says. “There are a variety of ways teacher leaders make a difference.”
The main goal in creating the standards is to “acknowledge that teacher leadership can look different everywhere,” Curley says. “It’s all about what is best for kids and classrooms, and helping give educators the tools to make success happen in their classroom. To me, that really ties back in with our mission and who we are as the [University of Phoenix] College of Education.”
