Q: How can teacher leadership affect the success of individual schools? You are currently a teacher leader in a high poverty school that is struggling academically. Can teacher leaders make a difference in such schools? Is a critical mass of teacher leadership necessary to instigate and sustain positive change?
A: As National Teacher of the Year, my platform was “All Children Deserve An Equal Chance.” As a part of this equity in education platform, I argued that one way to close the gap between the affluent and poverty schools is to recruit our strongest teachers to our weakest schools. Based on this belief, I requested to teach at Brighton Elementary in Birmingham, Alabama. Brighton is the most needy school among the hundred or more schools in Jefferson County. Working at Brighton for the past year and a half has been the greatest learning experience of my life. There is very important work to be done in high
poverty and low performing schools; however, one teacher leader cannot do this work alone. There was not a day last year I did not feel like I was drowning. Even with our school's success last year (we went from the 38 percentile to the 88 percentile in meeting our Adequate Yearly Progress goals under NCLB), this constant state of frustration remains for me. Schools like Brighton have so many, many needs, and they rarely rank high on society’s priority list. Recently, I sense some hope as I watch several teachers on our faculty take on leadership roles. I am convinced that only with a critical mass of quality teacher leaders will progress continue at my school.
Q: What can teachers do to expand their opportunities for leadership in schools?
A: While serving as State Teacher of the Year and National Teacher of the Year, my journey as a teacher leader took me to incredible places and I had amazing opportunities to meet extraordinary teachers all over our country. So many doors have been opened for me to see first hand the wide spectrum of teacher leadership roles. I would encourage teachers to seek leadership roles in areas where they have strong passion. These areas might include influencing policy, presenting at conferences, chairing committees, serving as mentors, leading discussion groups and book studies, writing articles, reaching out to community leaders—it’s a long list! Whatever teacher leaders choose to do, they need to model their commitment to the success of all our students. That's the most powerful message we can communicate.
