Teacher Preparation

Standards for Teacher-Leaders Unveiled

By Stephen Sawchuk — May 05, 2011 1 min read
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Hot on the heels of the release of an updated set of teacher standards, a different consortium has released a similar set for teacher-leaders—those teachers who now serve in the coaching, mentoring, curriculum writing, and other roles that have proliferated over the last decade.

The Teacher Leader Model Standards were created by a consortium represented by 10 national organizations (i.e., teachers’ unions or other associations), eight higher education institutions, 10 educators, and 11 state education department folks. Sponsored by the Princeton, N.J.-based Educational Testing Service, the group took more than two years to finalize the standards.

Dialogues about teacher leadership, what it looks like in practice, whether such positions should be full-time ones or supplement regular classroom-teaching duties, and whether aspirants ought to undergo a formal teacher-leader training program (something education schools in several states now provide) are ongoing in the education field at the moment. So these standards come at an opportune time.

I’m told these standards are already in use in some states and districts. Take a look, and let us know what you make of them.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teacher Beat blog.