May/June 2008
Communicator
Serving the schools in Jackson, Clinton, Cedar, Scott, Muscatine, & Louisa Counties
The Teacher Leadership Academy:
Building Capacity for High
Performance
~ By: Georgie Koenig, Head of Professional Development
The Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency Teacher Leadership Academy is a customized
professional development service designed to enhance leadership skills within the context of the
school that requested the service. The “content” is selected and the “delivery plan” is created in
cooperation with the principal. The first step in the process requires the principal to articulate
his/her vision and expectations of teacher leaders. Beginning with this end in mind, a team of AEA
consultants begin content selection and design work for the academy with the principal.
Micheal Fullan states in his book, Leading in a Culture of Change (2001),
(2001) “The litmus test of all
leadership is whether it mobilizes people’s commitment to putting their energy into actions
designed to improve things. It is individual commitment, but above all it is collective
mobilization.”
The Role of The Teacher Leader
According to Charlotte Danielson, a teacher leader is a teacher who exemplifies
professionalism. A teacher leader positively influences students and colleagues. A teacher leader
takes action to improve student achievement through modeling best practices and mobilizing
fellow educators to improve instructional practices and the learning environment for all. A teacher
leader is a teacher fully committed to collaboration with peers around improving instructional
practices in order to create a climate of continuous improvement. A teacher leader is an informal
leader, whose actions cause colleagues to view her as a professional resource, a teacher who
models best practices, and one others trust for support and guidance. A teacher leader is someone
who has collegial relationships verses just congenial relationships.
The Mission of the
Mississippi Bend Area
Education Agency is to
improve teaching and
learning for all students
through active partnerships
and assertive leadership in a
climate of mutual respect.
The No Child Left Behind legislation requires educators to be more accountable for student
achievement gains. Teacher leadership is important in today’s educational environment with its
ever increasing demands upon administrators and teachers to achieve student learning goals.
Administrators cannot meet these accountability requirements without working closely with
teachers and teachers cannot meet these requirements working in isolation. Teacher leadership
training provides teachers the tools that they need to work collaboratively with colleagues and
take on new roles as leaders.
In order for schools to achieve the goals set before them, they need to move beyond an individual
sense of self-efficacy, the belief that “I am capable” to a culture of collective efficacy, the belief
that “we are capable.” Collective efficacy has been found to be the number one predictor of
student achievement, even before social economic status and ethnicity. Teachers believing in the
power of “we” are capable of achieving identified goals. Teacher leadership is part of the formula
of believing in the power of “we”.
Administrators cannot create an efficacious environment alone. Teachers are a valued asset in
developing a school climate and culture where the educators believe that collectively, they have
the ability to make a positive difference with students to increase achievement.
continued
Working Together…Improving Teaching and Learning
Features
Cohort I learned about the value of having operating principles and
agreements in order to accomplish the schools goals. Participants
then applied the knowledge by working with the entire high school
staff to develop operating principles and agreements in their school
buildings. Cohort II worked with the staff on identifying each staff
members’ leadership style and what this meant for them as they
worked together in collaborative teams.
Teacher Leadership Academy continued from page 1
Teacher leaders can play different roles, some more formal than
others. Teachers serve as department chairs and mentor new
teachers. Other roles teacher leaders fill are: team leader,
curriculum specialist, peer coach, note-taker/recorder for team
meetings, parliamentarian/timekeeper, professional developer, data
coach, school promoter through speaking and writing, faculty
representative on district teams or community committees, host
teacher, accreditation leader, search committee leader for new staff,
technology leader, web page curator, etc... There are many roles
needed to create a successful school. Inviting teachers to share their
talents by contributing to other areas beyond the classroom allows
them to grow in new ways. Teachers begin to feel part of something
bigger than themselves and something that is meaningful beyond
their individual classrooms.
Bettendorf High School’s MSIT Academy began with the school
administrators sharing an overview of the purpose of the academy.
AEA staff along with the high school administrative team delivered
the content. The participants’ learned about leadership,
instructional decision making, building purposeful communities,
effective teaching, learning and leading, professional development,
writing strategies, and assessment. Teachers spent two full days in
the summer, two half days and one full day during the school year
learning and planning professional development delivery for
colleagues. The MSIT members will continue their learning
beginning again in July 2008.
District Teacher Leadership Programs
Area Nine Teacher Leadership Academies began in 2006 with a
partnership between the Mississippi Bend AEA and Muscatine High
School. Dr. Kristine Wolzen, Director of General Education, and
her team worked closely with the administration of Muscatine High
School to customize a program that would best meet their needs.
Teachers who have participated in the academies had lots to say
about what they learned. Here are a few comments that represent
what teachers had to say:
“I have a deeper understanding of processes that affect
leadership.”
The results of these meetings lead to the first Teacher Leadership
Academy in July of 2006. Eighteen teachers and three
administrators participated in the first academy. The academy was
so successful a second cohort was started during the summer of
2007 and a third cohort is in the planning stages for the summer of
2008. In the spring of 2007, Principal Jimmy Casas approached the
AEA about the possibility of developing a Teacher Leadership
Academy for Bettendorf High School. Discussions and planning
lead to a Model School Improvement Team (MSIT) Academy for
Bettendorf High School, which began in July 2007 and continued to
meet throughout the 2007-2008 school year.
“I learned more of what we do, has to be research based.”
“I learned to give the Principles and Agreements the respect they
deserve – they are important to have written explicitly.”
“I learned sometimes it’s important to stop before you go too far.
We stopped before we chose a goal so we could think.”
“I learned the importance of monitoring assessment results to
inform instruction and to make the necessary adjustments.”
“Celebrate successes – no matter how small.”
Each district developed customized programs with the AEA team to
meet their unique needs. Muscatine High School’s Teacher
Leadership Academy has trained two cohorts each with a slightly
different focus, but having a common base of training. Bettendorf
High School’s MSIT Academy has focused on determining a
professional development focus, choosing the appropriate
strategies and delivering professional development back in their
school.
By participating in leadership training, building level educators are
able to become true professionals who are able to have autonomy
in how work gets accomplished, along with being accountable for
results.
For more information or to investigate if a Teacher Leadership
Academy might meet the needs of your school, contact Dr.
Kristine Wolzen, Director of General Education, at (563) 344-6501,
[email protected].
The content for Muscatine High School’s Teacher Leadership was
built around some of the research from School Leadership that
Works, a book written by Robert Marzano, Timothy Waters and
Brian McNulty. The book talks about twenty-one leadership
responsibilities and the idea of distributed leadership. The teachers
who participated in the academies learned about the twenty-one
responsibilities and which responsibilities they could take on to
assist their school in moving forward to improve student
achievement. They learned that school administrators need to work
with teacher leaders to improve the quality of the school; it takes
everyone to reach identified outcomes. The school
administrators shared how they viewed the partnership working to
meet the school’s goals. The group learned how to manage
complex change in their buildings. Deb Hansen, Department of
Education Consultant, talked with the group about the work of
collaborative teams.
Sources:
Danielson, C. (2006). Teacher Leadership That Strengthens Professional
Practice. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.
Danielson, C. (2007). “The Many Faces of Leadership”. Educational
Leadership, 65 (1), 14-19.
Donaldson, G. (2007). “What Do Teachers Bring to Leadership”.
Educational, Leadership, 65 (1), 26-29.
Dozier, T. (2007). “Turning Good Teachers into Great Leaders”. Educational
Leadership, 65 (1), 54-58.
Harrison, C. & Killion, J. (2007). “Ten Roles for Teacher Leaders”.
Educational Leadership, 65 (1), 74-77.
Heller, D. (2004). Teachers Wanted Attracting and Retaining Good Teachers.
Teachers
Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.
Ingersoll, R. (2007). “Short on Power Long on Responsibility”. Educational
Leadership, 65 (1), 20-25.
Gabriel, J. (2005). How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader
Leader. ASCD. Alexandria,
Virginia.
Marzano, R., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. (2005). School Leadership That
Works From Research to Results. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.
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