Carly Hayes

Issues in Teacher Leadership

April 2022
Teacher Leaders and Student Achievement: can the dots be
connected?: Calderone, Kent, and Green (2017) discussed the impact of
teacher leadership on student achievement. A study was performed on 173
eighth-grade students and eight teachers. Four teachers were identified
teacher leaders and four were not. The 173 students were selected from both
advanced and non-advanced math and science classes. Using two different
tools of measurement, data was analyzed to determine the effect teacher
leaders had on student achievement. Interestingly enough, while the advanced
students showed greater achievement under teacher leaders, overall, there was
no significant evidence to show that teacher leaders yielded higher student
achievement. However, the researchers in this study emphasize that teacher
leaders are still incredibly valuable as they cultivate environments that value
learning, problem-solve issues around their schools, and encourage growth and
leadership in fellow teachers.
Teacher Leadership, The Pathway to Common Core Success: Over a five-month
period, the Center for American Progress held listening and learning sessions in
five school districts and held phone interviews with a sixth. The purpose of this
was to gain insight into how involved teachers were with determining the
implementation of Common Core in the classroom. As Common Core became
the foundation of instruction, administration and teachers' unions partnered
together to tackle implementation. This was done in a variety of ways across the
studied districts, with teachers leading in special assignment roles outside of the
classroom, to leading via peer mentoring in conjunction with continuing to
teach, to districts providing teachers weekly time to collaborate and discuss
instructional strategies. In sifting through the various ways these districts handled
teacher leadership with regard to Common Core, researchers Amore, Hoeflich,
and Pennington (2015) made a few recommendations. Teachers should be able
to lead on all district levels, teachers should receive collaboration time, districts
should embed professional development, and teachers should have an active
role in the selection of instructional materials. The researchers conclude by
emphasizing the importance of teacher involvement in implementing
instruction.
Teacher Leadership is Linked to Higher Student Test Scores in New
Study: Madeline Will (2017) outlines a study headed by Richard Ingersoll that
observed the effects of teacher leaders in decision making roles on student test
scores. His studies found that when teachers are involved in school improvement
planning, student test scores are up to twenty percent higher, specifically in ELA.
Will closes the article by emphasizing a point made by Ted Kolderie; teacher

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Carly Hayes

involvement leads to better teacher-student relationships which in turn positively

affects student interest and engagement.
Compare and Contrast: All three articles emphasize the importance of teacher
involvement in school planning. While the first article does acknowledge that in
some regards, teacher-leader impact on student achievement is limited, the
second and third article both provide evidence that it in fact can be helpful.
Article 1 does emphasize the positive impact of teacher leaders on colleagues
and encouraging professional development staff-wide. Articles 2 and 3 present
substantial evidence that teacher-leadership has a notable impact on teacher-
student relationships which directly impacts students' investment in their
learning.
All three articles informed my own teaching practice by reinforcing the impact
that teachers can have on each other. We all have so many ideas and
strengths we bring to our field that the opportunities to learn and grown as
educators together are endless.
Citations:
Amore, A., Hoeflich, N., and Pennington, K. (2015). Teacher Leadership: The
Pathway to Common Core Success. Center for American Progress
Calderone,S, Kent, A, and Green, A. (2016). Teacher Leaders and Student
Achievement: can the dots be connected? Revista Eletrônica de
Educação, 12.
Will, M. (2017). Teacher Leadership is Linked to Higher Student Test Scores in
New Study. Education Week Teacher.