Teacher Leadership as a Multidimensional Mediator: Linking School Climate to Instructional Innovation

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Leadership and School Change: Influencing, Negotiating, and Innovating

Abstract

This study examined teacher leadership as a mediator between school climate and innovative instructional practices. Data from 1,274 Nevada teachers were analyzed with a second-order structural equation model. Results revealed that teacher leadership fully mediated the relationship between school climate and innovative teaching practices (indirect effect = .106, p<.001). School climate significantly predicted teacher leadership (β= .296, p<.001), and teacher leadership strongly predicted innovative instruction (β= .359, p<.001). However, the direct effect of school climate on innovative teaching was non-significant. Findings suggest that supportive school environments alone are insufficient for instructional innovation; these conditions must be activated through teacher leadership development. This positions teacher leadership as the essential mechanism for translating organizational support into classroom innovation.

Authors

• Seoyeon Park, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Peter Wiens, University of Nevada - Las Vegas