Defining teacher leadership

Teacher leadership is widely thought to be critical to the success of local school improvement efforts. But it’s often unclear what teacher leadership entails, precisely. Supported by district-level staff, and with assistance from a university-based research team (the authors of this article), a group of science teacher leaders created a conceptual framework to guide their work. Teacher leadership, they concluded, involves four main activities: collaborating with teachers, modeling effective instruction, providing resources, and advocating on teachers’ behalf.