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If I Could Run A School

Teacher-powered schools require a divergent set of skills

By Learning Forward
Categories: Educator evaluation, Teacher leadership
August 2015
Every creative, dynamic, and intelligent teacher I know has played the “If I could start (or run) a school, I would …” game. Many of these teachers finish the sentence in similar ways, with answers like: Have teachers involved in whole- school decision making; Have teachers observing, giving feedback, and evaluating one another; Have students engaged in activities that allow them to learn real-world skills; and Have everyone who has a license teach (at least a little bit). Perhaps you are one of those teachers. If so, how would you complete that sentence? While people at all levels of education are talking about teacher leadership, few are talking about the bold type of leadership that puts teachers in charge of whole-school success. Many current forms of

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Authors

Lori Nazareno

Lori Nazareno ([email protected]) is teacher leader in residence at Center for Teaching Quality.

Free Guides for Teams Available

The Center for Teaching Quality and the Teacher-Powered Schools Initiative have developed a set of free discussion guides to support teams in developing some of the skills needed to successfully operate a teacher-powered school. These guides contain lessons learned from teachers in existing teacher-powered schools, tips, and discussion questions for teams to use in designing and managing teacher-powered schools. Access the guides at www.teacherpowered.org/guide.

References

Education Evolving. (2014, May). Teacher-powered schools: Generating lasting impact through common sense innovation. St. Paul, MN: Author.


Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.


Categories: Educator evaluation, Teacher leadership

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