NewLeaders_Untapped

FIGURE 3INADEQUATETRAININGFOR TEACHERLEADERSIN URBANSCHOOLS,2012–13Most schools havesome sort of teacherleader role, but fewhave clear pathwaysand quality training toprepare educators forsuccess in those roles.Schools withteacherleader rolesSchools with aformal pipeline toteacher leader rolesSchools that offerspecialized or differentiatedteacher leadership training32%45%86%Council of Great City Schools(2015). Assistant principals andteacher leaders in America’s greatcity schools. Unpublished data.Schools that base teacherleadership appointmentson existing leadership skills27%Districts and schools need a more diverse, stablesource of leadership.Gaps in the school leadership pipeline are welldocumented. 20 Those gaps are made more painful byhigh rates of churn among principals, half of whomare not retained after their third year on the job. 21Most teachers do not want to pursue leadership roles;discouraging factors include perceptions of overlyburdensome paperwork and distance from students. 22In addition, many assistant principals and instructionalcoaches never received high-quality training to developthem into the effective instructional leaders they aspireto be. 23 Together, these trends make leadership an allor-nothingrole, compromising instructional continuityand negatively affecting student achievement. 24These challenges will sound familiar to most peopleworking in high-need schools, even though manyof those schools have had teacher leader roles inplace for years. But there remain few examples ofteacher leadership development done right, wherefuture leaders are cultivated for well-consideredresponsibilities and supported to master the skills tomanage those new responsibilities effectively. Onerecent survey conducted by the Council of Great CitySchools found that 86 percent of its member schoolshad teacher leader roles, but only 32 percent offerteacher leadership training. Even fewer schools—27percent—appoint teacher leaders based on existingleadership skills (Figure 3).If the point of teacher leadership is to improve teachingand learning, thrusting high-performing teachersinto teacher leader roles without training does adouble disservice. It takes teaching time away from theeducators best prepared to accelerate student learning,and then handicaps their potential to lead colleaguesto similar successes by failing to equip them with theskills they need.We have seen how hands-on training can help. Withpractice, feedback, reflection and supported opportunitiesto grow, teacher leaders can develop key adult and instructionalleadership skills, to apply their classroom expertiseand lead colleagues—and their students—to excellence.21 School Leaders Network (2014). Churn: The high cost of principal turnover. Retrieved from https://connectleadsucceed.org/sites/default/files/principal_turnover_cost.pdf22 Hancock, D. R., Black, T., & Bird, J. J. (2006). A study of factors that influence teachers to become school administrators. Journal ofEducational Research & Policy Studies, 6(1), 91-105.23 Council of Great City Schools (2015). Assistant principals and teacher leaders in America’s great city schools. Unpublished data.24 School Leaders Network (2014). Churn: The high cost of principal turnover. Retrieved from https://connectleadsucceed.org/sites/default/files/principal_turnover_cost.pdfUNTAPPED | 11