The Five State Teacher Leadership Consortium was formed to develop a degree-length program to prepare teachers to successfully assume the mantle of “teacher leader.” The course of study consists of 14 units that can be woven together in various ways to create pathways toward teacher leadership. The overall design mirrors best thinking in the field about the four broad domains of knowledge and skills that teacher leaders need to be successful. Each course, in turn, was constructed using empirical evidence and key values about the role of teacher leadership in good schools. The overall design was forged with various users in mind: universities who would be developing degree or endorsement programs, district and intermediate educational agencies who would be developing professional development experiences, and professional associations who would be educating their members about teacher leadership. To further facilitate use of the curriculum, most of the 14 courses are comprised of 3 modules each of which can be taught independently. The overall design underscores the practice of teacher leadership and each course and module features the authentic work of teacher leaders.
Included herein are snapshots of the way the five partners in the Consortium—Kansas, Ohio, Delaware, Alabama, and Kentucky—will be using the curriculum. We encourage others to use the material as appropriate for their particular contexts.
-Professor Joseph Murphy, Vanderbilt University
Kansas
The Kansas Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education have made teacher quality a priority. As a result of the Kansas Teaching Commission and the Kansas Educational Leadership Commission (KELC) Reports, Teacher Leadership Standards and Licensure Regulations have been developed and are moving through the adoption process. It is anticipated the procedure will be completed in the fall of 2009. The Standards and Regulations will provide a platform for Teacher Leadership programs to be developed by institutions of higher education (IHE). The national Teacher Leadership curriculum, developed by Kansas, Ohio, Delaware, Alabama and Kentucky will be made available to the university faculties in order to assist in the design of a program at institutions that express an interest. The regulation requires the completion of a graduate degree with the level determined at the discretion of the IHE. The Five State Consortium provides a potential framework to address the expectations of the Standards. Creating the Teacher Leader licensure will provide a career choice that does not currently exist in the Kansas cohesive leadership development continuum.
In addition to the formal licensure process, Kansas has placed The Five State Teacher Leadership Consortium curriculum on the KSDE website. All school leaders will be encouraged to review the materials and download activities of interest. Situational capacity building will be emphasized in an awareness campaign that is being developed by a KELC design team. Any district will be able to use the modules to enhance the professional development of all teachers. It will encourage the leadership to look at district needs and to use the modules that apply. In addition, the team will craft presentations for local, state and national audiences. Planning may include short workshops where hands-on use of pieces from the curriculum will be demonstrated with school leaders.
For additional information contact: Larry Wheeles, lwheeles@ksde.org
Ohio
The Governor introduced legislation to restructure Ohio’s teacher licensure system: providing a model for teaching and learning in the 21st Century. The proposal to restructure teacher licensure provides opportunities for teachers to advance in their careers, and serve as leaders of school improvement in their buildings and districts. It is expected that the legislation will be enacted as part of the new biennium state budget. Work is currently underway to establish licensure standards and provide funding for the design of model programs in the state. The work from the The Five State Teacher Leadership Consortium project will be utilized throughout Ohio as institutions of higher education work to develop programs for the Lead Professional Educator License.
For additional information contact: Cynthia Yoder, Cynthia.Yoder@ode.state.oh.us
Delaware
Delaware’s new Governor and Secretary of Education have made teacher quality a priority of this administration. Over the next two months, Delaware will convene over 100 teacher leaders statewide in regional focus groups to learn more about the responsibilities of teacher leaders in this state. The Delaware Academy for School Leadership at the University of Delaware is completing a three month study of the changing relationships in secondary schools in which the principal shares leadership using a model of distributed leadership with teachers. The information gathered from the focus groups and the study will be shared with a policy committee that will meet in May 2009 to discuss the need for a Teacher Leader Certificate as part of the career path for teachers. Since our goal is that all teachers become leaders, the national Teacher Leadership curriculum developed by Kansas, Ohio, Delaware, Alabama, and Kentucky will be made available to the university faculty in order to design a program at all four of Delaware’s universities. We are not sure if the program will be a masters, education specialist or a certificate program. The policy committee will provide guidance on this decision. A small working groups of teacher leaders, administrators, Department of Education staff, and university faculty will be meeting in May 2009 to develop a set of Teacher Leader Standards to present to the Professional Standards board for review. Delaware has been involved in the development of a cohesive leadership system for school leaders for over eight years. The career path for teachers is a key component in the development of aspiring school leaders for Delaware’s schools.
For additional information contact: Jackie Wilson, jowilson@udel.edu
Alabama
The Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching in Alabama is currently considering the effective use of The Five State Teacher Leadership Consortium developed teacher leader curriculum. The Commission has created a model for continuous growth called Professional Pathways for Alabama Teachers. A specialist degree in teacher leadership is one avenue to the Master Teacher or Learning Designer designations; the upper two levels of the Pathways.
For additional information contact: John Bell, Jbell@ALSDE.edu
Kentucky
In September 2005 the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board appointed a Master’s Degree Redesign Committee to review rank changes and master’s degree programs. Teacher leaders quickly became the focus with an emphasis on job-embedded learning experiences and university collaboration with teachers and districts. After two years of review, the Master’s Redesign Guidelines were approved in 2007. Kentucky Administrative Regulation 16 KAR 5:010 created a Master’s Redesign Review Committee consisting of district, state, and higher education members. The purpose of the committee is to conduct reviews of redesigned Teacher as Leader Master’s Degree Endorsement programs and make recommendations for approval, approval with conditions or denial of approval. In May of 2008, the school leadership: principal certification program was redesigned and approved as a post-master’s program. Teacher Leadership became a master’s leadership option and a career pathway to 1) teacher leadership at the classroom, school and district level and 2) principal certification.
The state’s involvement in The Five State Teacher Leadership Consortium project has provided colleges and universities with a resource for redesigning the Teacher as Leader Master’s Degree Endorsement programs. As a result of this work, the groundwork has been done that may lead toward a post master’s Teacher Leadership certification program. As part of the The Five State Teacher Leadership Consortium project, Kentucky developed proposed Teacher Leadership standards.
For additional information contact: Debbie Daniels, Debbie.Daniels@education.ky.gov
Download Course of Study Notebook
For further information on this consortium please contact:
Lois Adams-Rodgers, loisar@ccsso.org
