Publications

This sample job description from Miami-Dade County Public Schools includes job responsibilities and hiring criteria for grade-level chairs, department chairs, and team leaders. 

The Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, which includes union representatives, teachers, administrators, higher education leaders, and policy organizations, created this set of model standards for teacher leadership designed to guide districts, states, and others as they develop and support teacher leadership roles as a means of improving student achievement. 

This report from the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) and the Center for Educator Effectiveness at Pearson reviews lessons from other countries and professions and gives recommendations for developing sustainable teacher career pathways.

This article from Teachers Teaching Teachers profiles a data coach who learned through her experience in the classroom how to understand student data. It describes how she then helped fellow teachers assess their students’ growth and develop specific strategies to help at-risk students. The authors introduce some challenges associated with the data coach position—such as teacher buy-in.

This resource from KIPP provides a detailed explanation of how classroom teachers’ job responsibilities change as they progress to grade-level chair positions within the KIPP charter school network.

Starting from the premise that teachers and school leaders have the greatest influence on student outcomes, this report presents strategies for recruiting teachers and principals and ensuring opportunities for professional growth and leadership development.

This pilot study, which focuses on school districts in Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, finds that teacher turnover is costly and has a direct correlation with student outcomes in at-risk schools. The study includes a detailed analysis of recruitment, hiring, and replacement costs in five school districts.

This North Carolina-based study explores the impact of teacher experience on student learning and concludes that greater teacher experience is correlated with improved student outcomes, both in terms of achievement and behavior, demonstrating that teachers learn on the job.

This policy brief presents findings from a convening of California school district superintendents on the barriers encountered and methods used to overcome obstacles in efforts to successfully implement blended learning programs.

This case study focuses on an innovative teacher contract approved and implemented in Baltimore in 2012 under Dr. Andres Alonso, the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools. The contract is accompanied by a four-tier career pathway that links teacher performance to pay and promotion. Within the pathway, teachers can earn higher pay by collecting achievement units or completing peer-reviewed projects.