Issues in Teacher Leadership Review

First Article: 
Unknown. “Leadership in Science Education.” NSTA, https://www.nsta.org/nstas-official-
positions/leadership-science-education

Leadership in Science Education published by the National Science Teaching Association

(NSTA) in 2016 discusses that in order to adopt the Framework for K–12 Science Education
(NRC 2012), there needs to be a presence of strong leaders at the district and state levels.
Through data they collected, the NSTA found that it is absolutely crucial for science leaders to
have administrative support in order to be successful at ensuring that all students have the
opportunity to achieve scientific literacy. This article specifically focused on several declarations
that the NSTA makes for science leaders implementing science education reform in the area of
science teaching and learning, professional development, science curriculum, and assessment. 

Second Article:  
Will, M. (2017) Teacher leadership is linked to higher student test scores in new study,
Education Week. Education Week. Available at:
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teacher-leadership-is-linked-to-higher-student-test-
scores-in-new-study/2017/10

Will (2017) discusses the research Richard Ingersoll conducted regarding teacher leadership and
its correlation to student test scores. Over the course of 4 years, Ingersoll reviewed data from a
million teachers from over 25,000 schools in 16 different states controlling factors like poverty,
school size, and location. He found that schools with high levels of teacher leadership ranked 10
percentile points higher in both math and ELA scores. Will discusses how the two areas of
teacher leadership that reflect the highest student achievement are when teachers are involved in
developing school-wide policy and establishing student discipline procedures.

Third Article:
Kaplan, M. (2012) Collaborative team teaching: Challenges and rewards, Edutopia. George
Lucas Educational Foundation. Available at: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/collaborative-team-
teaching-challenges-rewards-marisa-kaplan 

Kaplan (2012) discusses many of the benefits of co-teaching including the challenges and the
rewards. One of the highlights of this article is how it talks about what makes a strong
partnership between co-teachers. Kaplan states that students learn an important lesson of
respecting their peers when witnessing two teachers working together and sharing all of the
classroom responsibilities. She also shares how one of the best benefits of co-teaching is that it
provides a natural support system for both teachers to conduct their job.
Compare/Contrast Articles:  
These three articles suggest that collaboration and teacher leadership within schools significantly
boosts student achievement. However, the NSTA primarily focuses on the role of teacher
leadership through the scope of science education, while Will discusses the correlation of teacher
leadership in school-wide decision making is linked to higher student test scores. Finally, Kaplan
discusses the role of co-teaching and how collaboration amongst teachers can greatly benefit
students and teachers in many aspects of the school system.

How Articles Inform Your Teaching Practice

These articles have informed my teaching practice by proving the importance of taking on a
leadership role within my school. I believe that by taking on a leadership role, I will improve my
student’s achievement and my overall happiness within the school that I am working at.