Teacher Leaders Providing Leadership to Teams of Teachers and Administrators

Teacher leaders – current or former classroom teachers working with other classroom teachers and other educators in the school or district – are present in many reform efforts in mathematics and science education. Teacher leaders may engage in a variety of practices, inside and outside of the classroom, that support instructional improvement. As leaders of instructional teams of teachers and/or administrators, such as curriculum committees, school leadership councils, and grade level teams, teacher leaders provide leadership and thoughtful perspective that is grounded in experience and expertise as the team makes decisions that influence instruction.

Practice-based Insights on Teacher Leaders Providing Leadership to Teams of Teachers and Administrators

Advice from experienced practitioners offers guidance to those involved in teacher leader work providing leadership to instructional teams of teachers and administrators. Insights provided by a group of expert practitioners with diverse backgrounds and experiences in working with teachers included the following ideas:

• Knowledge matters – Prepare teacher leaders to draw on their content knowledge expertise when working with instructional teams of teachers and administrators.
• Been there, done that – Work with teacher leaders to utilize their prior classroom experience when providing leadership to teams of teachers and administrators.
• All politics is local – Teacher leaders need to be sensitive to the politics of the particular administrator/teacher team as well as the larger setting in which the team operates.
• R-E-S-P-E-C-T – Help teacher leaders develop a climate of mutual respect within an administrator/teacher team.

Teacher Leadership Matters

Empirical evidence shows that teacher leaders' practice impacts teachers' instructional practice and, in some studies, provides evidence of positive impact on student outcomes. Findings across studies include:

• Teacher leaders' practice, particularly in providing instructional support to teachers, impacts teachers' classroom practice.
• Teacher leaders' practice occurs in a larger context of conditions that impact teachers' practice.
• Teacher leaders' practice is related to positive student outcomes.

Research on Teacher Leaders Providing Leadership to Teams of Teachers and Administrators

In a review of the published literature, seventeen studies were identified that included findings related to teacher leaders providing leadership to grade-level or building-level instructional teams. These studies investigated different aspects of the leadership role of teacher leaders on instructional teams. One set of studies reported on the impact of teacher leaders through their leadership of instructional teams. Findings from these studies suggested that the presence of teacher leaders had positive impact on teams; however, these studies did not reveal much about the nature of the leadership they provided and why it was effective. A second set of studies examined factors that influenced teacher leader-led teams. These studies reported on a range of factors that influenced the functioning of teams led by teacher leaders, including: focus on subject matter, group dynamics, and the training received by the teacher leader. A third set of studies reported on the prevalence of teacher leader participation on instructional teams. These studies provided evidence that teacher leaders are called upon to provide leadership as a member of grade-level or building-level teams in elementary and secondary grades.