Exploring Effective Strategies and Resources for Supporting Teacher Leadership

• In Event: From Policy to Practice: Investigating Teacher Leadership as a Lever of Educational Change

Abstract

Based on an interest in addressing teacher shortages, retaining effective teachers, and promoting their leadership within schools, researchers leading this study conducted a systematic review of the literature to investigate what is known about the competencies, knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teacher leaders across various roles, as well as resources and supports that school and district administrators provide to teacher leaders. In presenting this paper, authors will describe the literature review process, present literature review results, and provide an overview of the two teacher leadership instruments developed using literature review findings.
The following three research questions informed the literature review.
1. What are the most common types of teacher leadership roles, and what competencies and early indicators of knowledge, skills, and dispositions does a teacher need in each role?
2. What types of school-based strategies prepare teachers for, and support them in, leadership roles?
3. What types of district-level strategies prepare teachers for, and support them in, leadership roles?
The project team used these questions to guide a review of the literature and a scan of existing tools on teacher leadership to collect information regarding the criteria for assessing the “readiness” of a teacher to transition into the roles and responsibilities of teacher leadership. The literature review also provided information on resources and supports that school and district administrators provide for teachers in preparation for, and in support of, teacher leadership roles. The project team reviewed 89 documents published after 2000, all of which were collected from a comprehensive literature search using predetermined criteria. The review resulted in the following:
• A summary of key teacher leader competencies, knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behavior indicators around 12 domains.
• A summary of common types of teacher leader roles and responsibilities in four broad categories.
• A summary of school or district conditions conducive to cultivating and supporting teacher leadership as well as strategies that prepare teachers for, and support them, in leadership roles. The conditions and strategies are organized into eight categories.
• A summary of the existing tools and instruments that were used, or could potentially be used, to assess teacher leadership potentials or practices or to evaluate school or district conditions or capacity for supporting teacher leadership.
Next, the research team used literature review findings to develop two instruments designed to help foster and support teacher leadership. The first instrument is a teacher self-assessment tool for teachers to assess their readiness to serve in a leadership roles. The second instrument is a school and district leader readiness tool to assess readiness to foster and support teacher leaders. The project team pilot tested these self-assessment tools through cognitive interviews with four teachers and four administrators. The content of the tools was then revised to reflect the feedback gathered from the cognitive interviews.
The resulting tools are hosted by the Center for Great Teachers and Leaders at http://www.gtlcenter.org/products-resources/teacher-leadership-self-assessment-and-readiness-tools. Presenters will discuss the literature, the development and use of the instrument as well as the future of educational research within the domain of teacher leadership.

Author

• Elizabeth Barkowski, American Institutes for Research