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In her book Building Leadership Capacity in Schools, Linda Lambert (1998) asserts that "leadership
is about learning together, constructing meaning and knowledge collectively and collaboratively"
(p. 5). She views leadership as a learning process that has direction and purpose. The Regional
Alliance shares this view of leadership, and seeks to build leadership capacity at each school in the
Alliance Schools network.
Leadership teams from the Alliance Schools work with Alliance staff to formulate their reform goals and gather the skills and resources they need to meet those goals. The Alliance seeks to encourage a team process that involves inquiry, reflection, and collaboration. Establishing these processes takes time, which is why each summer the Alliance has gathered leadership teams together for an intensive three-day institute. This time allows teams to focus on their reform goals and action plans as well as establish a way of working together. They learn ways to use data and inquiry to reform their math and science programs, while gaining skills that can help them lead change. Often team members are reluctant to see themselves as leaders, believing they lack the necessary traits or the authority to lead. According to Regional Alliance director Mark Kaufman, "Few teachers or administrators have been trained in the kind of skills necessary for the type of leadership change that is needed when teachers move outside their classrooms to assume new and different roles." The institutes help team members develop a broader concept of leadership, one that is not based on what Lampert refers to as the trait theory, which limits leadership to an individual. Instead, team members develop a shared sense of responsibility for accomplishing their goals. Following the 1999 summer institute, Alliance staff spoke with teachers and administrators from two Alliance Schools about their reform work and the way they approach their leadership responsibilities. Teacher-Leaders at Nathan Hall seek higher student math scores Nathan Hale Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut, is a K–5 building with 700 students and 50 teachers. As part of its involvement with the Regional Alliance, the school is implementing an ambitious plan to improve mathematics scores for all students by introducing performance assessment tasks. In its first year with the Alliance, Nathan Hale established a leadership team with a teacher from each grade level. The team created performance assessment tasks, developed a scoring rubric, and piloted the tasks in their own classrooms for an entire school year. The program got off to an encouraging start, receiving local recognition from the Connecticut Association of Schools at the annual awards dinner and generating an enthusiasm for mathematics not often seen at the elementary level. "The team did a wonderful job," reports principal Nene Nanfeldt. "They changed the way mathematics is viewed and taught at our school." Nena acknowledges the importance of teacher leaders in making lasting change in a building and also realizes that the leadership role is not an easy fit for most teachers. "Our experience has been that teacher leaders can make a dramatic difference in how a school works. I don’t think you move a school forward without strong teacher leadership, but it’s a complex matter for them. Teacher leaders are in their classrooms working hard with students every day, but they must also take responsibility to lead and encourage their peers if the expectation is school-wide change." Teacher leaders approach their responsibilities in different and very personal ways. Audrey Boutaugh, a third-grade teacher completing her fourth year in the profession feels that her positive attitude toward the new assessments is the best advertisement for other teachers to come on board. "I feel a responsibility to support my colleagues as they implement new instructional approaches." Barbara Beaman, a grade five teacher and Alliance teacher leader, believes her enthusiasm encourages other teachers to try innovations in their own classrooms. One approach that is working very successfully for Nathan Hale involves Alliance teacher leaders modeling task assessment strategies with a colleague’s students. It is very powerful for teachers to observe their own students responding well to new instructional strategies. This type of experience gives the teachers confidence to try things on their own. Nena explains that she must convince teacher leaders to have frank discussions with her about roadblocks, so that she can play an active, supportive role in the change process. "Ongoing reflection and dialogue allows us to help each other. Trust among team leaders, including myself as the school administrator is a crtical element in the change process." Harvard Elementary teachers lead effort to improve science program For Harvard Elementary School, the advent of the Massachusetts Science and Technology Curriculum Frameworks and the new state assessments (MCAS) prompted an evaluation of the schools science program. Partnership with the Regional Alliance offered the perfect opportunity for teachers to work with professional development specialists at TERC to assess the program and ensure that it was aligned with the Science Framework. |
Russell Faux, a Senior Research Associate at the Alliance, visited the school
and conducted an interview with the leadership team. He observed that improving
the science program was an excellent opportunity for teachers with a natural
interest in leadership to participate in a significant task. "It allowed
those teachers who are activists —those who are always curious about
new innovations and want to try new things—to be activists and take
on real problems in an important area of instruction." Faux further
explains that since classroom teachers are spearheading change, they bring
a unique sensibility to the job. Because they work so closely together,
teachers are in the position of anticipating faculty needs, making a smooth
transition to a new curriculum possible. The team from Harvard worked incrementally
to build support for the new science program. Their careful work to ensure
that teachers were comfortable with major changes in instruction is a good
example of the power of teacher leadership.
Despite all these positive factors, fourth-grade teacher and team member Kathy Kittredge says that a leadership role can be a difficult one for teachers. "When you are among your colleagues, you don’t want it to seem that you’re taking over power that’s not yours." She points out that Harvard Elementary has a strong tradition in which teachers offer inservice programs to their colleagues. Fortunately the teachers expect their colleagues to have expertise that they can share with the faculty. "This really gave us an edge in improving the science curriculum." The science leadership team met for three full days during the 1998-99 school year with a clear goal in mind: to align the science curriculum with the state frameworks. The team soon realized that the first task was to find out exactly what was being taught in each classroom. They had the hunch that there were gaps in science instruction, but they needed the data to prove it. Working with the frameworks as a guide, the team developed a science curriculum survey that provided in-depth information about science instruction in each classroom. In order to make teachers feel comfortable with the process, the team met with their colleagues to explain the goals of the leadership team and the purpose of the survey. Teachers were given release time to complete the survey and the team met with the whole staff to report the results in an open meeting. These steps were very important to ensure all the teachers felt that they were part of the process, "It had to be teacher-friendly or it wasn’t going to work," reports Kathy. The results of the survey gave a clear picture of science instruction at Harvard Elementary School. The news was mostly good; the school provided excellent science teaching in most grade levels but there were gaps in the program, especially in the area of the physical sciences. the focus appeared to be on the life sciences and the earth sciences. The survey also identified the need to shift some science concepts to different grade levels to improve the developmental match and to prepare for the MCAS statewide assessment. The leadership team now had data to initiate changes. The long-term hope of these changes is summarized by team member Diane Temple, "Our ultimate goal is to create students who are scientists." Armed with this information, the team began the process of implementing new curriculum aligned with the frameworks. As with the survey, keeping their colleagues informed and comfortable with the process was a priority. "We didn’t want to overwhelm teachers with too much information. We had many discussions and invited suggestions from the teachers before we made any decisions," explained team member Terry Monette. The team identified quality instructional materials and found financial resources to purchase them. The leadership team recognizes that professional development time and support are crucial to successful implementation. A member of the team, Laurie Link, summarized the goal for the upcoming academic year, "We will offer teachers in-service training. We are going to be there to support them as they make the changes to the science curriculum." References
Lambert, L. (1998). Building leadership capacity in schools. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
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