The Value of Teacher Leadership Today—and Tomorrow

By guest blogger Leanne Link, communications assistant at the Center for Teaching Quality

As this month's Roundtable participants pointed out, teacher leaders are everywhere. Many lead in nontraditional or unrecognized ways, as Jane Fung and Patrick Ledesma reminded us. At the same time, bloggers were able to identify some effective habits that many teacher leaders hold in common.

Teacher leaders ...

Spread positivity. Cheryl Suliteanu advises teachers leaders to "approach others with solutions-focused ideas. Speak with good intentions, and be an active listener with a positive perspective."

Share their voices. Lillie Marshall urges teachers to make their voices heard via social media, and Justin Minkel encourages teachers to use their expertise to shape education policy.

Advocate for their profession. Jessica Cuthbertson, Jane Fung, and Noah Patel emphasize the importance of the seventh domain of the Teacher Leader Model Standards.

Lead beyond the education sphere. Lillie Marshall explains how she didn't consider herself a teacher leader until she left the country and got involved beyond the classroom.

Value partnerships. Collaboration with colleagues is key for 21st-century teaching and learning, says Justin Minkel. And teachers and parents can also form productive working relationships, Cheryl Suliteanu notes.

Several bloggers posed ideas about how teacher leaders' work can best be supported at a systems level.

Patrick Ledesma suggests that policymakers support more formal leadership positions, as well as career ladders that allow for varied entryways and specializations.

Noah Patel shares Boston's teacher leadership certification program as a model that other districts can learn from.

What would you add? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Patrick Ledesma

During my last post, I discussed the institutional challenges limiting the development of teacher leadership. While Sarah and Janet are fictional "composite" teacher leaders, their stories are represented by teacher leaders in schools everywhere.

Formal validation of these teacher leadership roles is necessary. We need a career ladder that articulates the responsibilities of different roles. From this career ladder and resulting job descriptions, we can then identify and develop the knowledge and skills these leaders will need to be successful. We can better provide professional development to grow teacher leadership in various capacities. These roles will add to the differentiated levels of a true teaching profession.

What will it take for educators to advance the idea of teacher leadership?

There are many unanswered questions:

• We believe in teacher leadership, but do all teachers really want a differentiated career ladder? In the discussions around the Teacher Leadership Model Standards, there is a concern about a resulting hierarchy of teachers. This departs from the egalitarian nature of teaching, where all teachers are considered the same.
• Teachers are natural leaders in the classroom with students. All teachers already lead. Does being a leader of students automatically translate to being a leader of adults? Or are there a specific set of skills that not all teachers readily have that allow them to be successful leading adults? Naturally, all teachers should have the opportunity to develop these skills. But, let's not lump all forms of informal and formal teacher leadership into one category.
• How can schools have the flexibility to develop teacher leadership roles based on local context? The need for teacher leadership arises to solve local challenges. Teacher leadership may look different across various schools. What flexibility will educators need to create teacher leadership roles that benefit each community?

These are tough questions that will test the commitment to teacher leadership.

Hopefully, through these discussions, we get closer to finding solutions.

Patrick Ledesma is a middle school technology specialist and special education department chair with Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

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Noah Patel

In my previous blog post, I wrote about how school and district leaders must support teachers in developing their capacity as leaders. I am proud to say that the city of Boston has begun such work through its Teacher Leader Certificate program. Unlike most teacher leadership training programs that leave teachers "all dressed up with no place to go," this program only works with teachers who already hold leadership roles. It seeks to serve the need of a growing population of teachers who have moved into roles they recognize as important but have little or no support to build the skills to be successful.

The program is unique in that the courses have been designed and facilitated primarily by practicing Boston Public School teachers. As such, it not only helps teachers who take courses to build leadership skills, but it importantly provides teachers who design and facilitate our courses with a unique new opportunity for career advancement. It has been developed in partnership with the district, is endorsed by the superintendent, and is aligned with the district's reform plan, targeting skill building for the teacher leadership roles that will play a critical role in systemic change. As an additional benefit for those who participate, UMASS Boston and Cambridge College also serve as partners so that these courses can be offered for graduate credits. Such credits allow Boston teacher leaders to improve their salaries.

What's most compelling for me is that working toward my certificate not only benefits my professional learning but is also an asset to my district. By distinguishing these courses with a locally recognized certificate, Boston has in essence created currency. School and district leaders know the value of this currency, as well as the capacity of teacher leaders who have completed these courses.

Through these classes, I have had the important and all too rare opportunity to engage with teacher leaders from various schools. We've been able to share our expertise and experiences in ways that help all of us learn from one other and perform at a higher level. When we do this, students win.

In truly developing the capacity of its teachers, Boston is on the leading edge of supporting teachers in professionalizing education. I am optimistic that the city will remain innovative in using their new currency creatively. I hope this includes providing more career advancement opportunities for teacher leaders and, in turn, improved outcomes for our students.

Noah Patel is a middle school math teacher in the Boston Public School District.

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Jane Fung

My school district is phasing in a new teacher evaluation process, which includes five standards for assessing performance. Although there is a professional growth expectation, teacher leadership is not explicitly stated as a performance requirement.

The Teacher Leader Model Standards are "a series of broadly stated domains that identify critical dimensions of teacher leadership." On this blog, we have discussed the wide range of leadership activities and examples of how teachers lead, but what about expectations? Do all teachers need to be leaders? Maybe not, but could they be?

Absolutely.

Most classroom teachers I know are already engaged in some form of teacher leadership at the school level. Whether it is serving on school leadership councils, planning and facilitating professional development, mentoring new teachers, or developing school partnerships, educators take responsibility to improve teaching and learning.

Skilled administrators (and teacher leaders) know how to recognize and support the development of teachers as leaders. They know how to build on teachers' interests and passions.

Katy, a 1st grade teacher, generally stays away from involvement outside her classroom. In her seven years of teaching, she had always focused on teaching her students and rarely took on more. But when the arts program was in need of a coordinator, she stepped up to take on that role. Katy said she was happy to do it because of her love for the arts and the importance they served in students' lives.

Physical fitness enthusiast and 2nd grade teacher Loribeth leads the marathon and jump-rope programs every year because of her deep belief in promoting children's health. Fueled by her love of performance and wanting to find a way to celebrate students' talents and bring the community together after the stress of standardized testing, she created, planned, and produced a school talent show. Loribeth invited (gently nudged) other colleagues to work collaboratively with her on this new venture. Teachers who had not been involved in outside classroom activities couldn't say no to her excitement and all had an amazing experience.

I believe that teachers will, and do, take on a leadership role when it is one they are deeply connected to or that improves the lives of students, families, and their colleagues. Teachers lead in different ways, some more quietly than others, but all are essential to our profession.

Jane Fung is a National Board-certified teacher in urban Los Angeles, where she currently teaches 1st grade.

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Cheryl Suliteanu

The common thread I find as I read articles and blogs on teacher leadership is that "teachers are the experts." So why, as Justin pointed out, aren't teachers leading the way with creating standards? Why aren't teachers discussing ideas, suggestions, concerns, questions, and solutions with district administrators?

Jessica asked me how teacher leaders might go about bringing their ideas out in the open. There's a simple answer and a complex answer. The simple answer is responsible action: I recognized a need that I wanted to address. I considered potential solutions. I researched current practices locally and nationally. I researched test scores for my school and district. I chose an associate superintendent to talk to. I emailed him, and he agreed to meet with me. We started a conversation.

The complexity of starting important conversations is intangible—it's the idea that I know I can make a difference and I want to be the one to try. As teacher leaders, we must face the reality that we are the experts, yet most of us are not invited to share ideas. Instead of complaining about the wind, it's time to adjust our sails. As Jose Vilson stated recently, "We can be our own advocates individually and collectively. Let's use our voices. Loud and clear."

The perception from teachers is that sharing ideas is going to create a problem; that speaking about changes means you are causing trouble. Where does this negative assumption come from? The expectation of negativity is a roadblock to progress.

If I start from a positive assumption, and share ideas with positive intentions, and speak with responsibility and respect, then I am fostering a climate of dialogue and collaboration. I went to my associate superintendent and later our district superintendent with ideas that support my district. My ideas are about how to help students achieve their greatest potential. I listened to my superintendent with positive assumptions, I accentuated the positives I heard, and in return, I was given the same respect.

If I could give one piece of advice to my highly accomplished, deeply respected colleagues who read this is to be positive. Approach others with solutions-focused ideas. Speak with good intentions, and be an active listener with a positive perspective. And finally, seek opportunities to share your ideas, don't wait to be invited.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. " ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Cheryl Suliteanu has taught elementary school students in Oceanside, Calif., for 15 years.

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Jessica Cuthbertson

What is advocacy? A quick dictionary search surfaces a list of synonyms that include: insistency, active support, urging, pleading and arguing in favor of something. "Advocating for Student Learning and the Profession," the seventh domain of the Teacher Leader Model Standards uses the word to capture what teacher leaders say and do to advance the profession, inform policy, and improve student learning.

My initial post explored the public persona of teachers—we represent the profession wherever we go and whatever we do—and this involves both responsibility and opportunity. But we do not have to work as independent advocates on behalf of our profession. We do not have to advocate in isolation. In a Wordle image of the language in the seventh domain, "learning" and "colleagues" are the most frequently used words, followed closely by "student," "teacher," and "resources." Indeed, it is only through ongoing learning and collaboration with others that our advocacy and actions will reach broader audiences.

This past spring, 8th graders created a public stir when they pushed back on standardized testing by publicly critiquing a test passage and questions. Through the use of their collective voice, ranging from posts on Facebook to conversations with parents and teachers, the "Pineapples don't have sleeves" moral became an overnight catch phrase that shed light on the limitations of and inherent problems with using standardized testing as a measure of authentic learning.

The documentary Mitchell 20 showcases a group of 20 teachers who collectively committed to a professional learning experience and supported one another through the National Board certification process. What they learn about themselves, their students, and each other shifts both the rhetoric and the student achievement results at their school. As a result of this film, growing groups of teachers are replicating the process.

Mitchell 20 and the "pineapple question" serve as two powerful examples of how collective action can further our advocacy agendas. Who better to insist on authentic assessments and question the status quo than a group of 8th graders? Who better to urge and argue for meaningful professional learning experiences that result in student achievement than a group of teachers dedicating themselves to the intensive National Board certification process?

Perhaps the most important thing we can take from the Teacher Leader Model Standards is that the phrase "teacher leader advocates" means you. But it also means me. It means all of us. It is our collective responsibility and opportunity to advocate for our profession and for our students.

Jessica Cuthbertson, a Colorado educator with 10 years' experience, teaches middle school literacy and has served as a literacy instructional coach for Aurora Public Schools.

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Justin Minkel

Here's a troubling riddle: What do NCLB, Obama's Blueprint for Reform, and the Common Core Standards have in common?

Not a single teacher was in the room when they were written.

Last week, I met one of the authors of the common standards. I asked her why teachers weren't involved in writing them.

This is what she said:

1. "Teachers are so busy." Umm...true. "They just wouldn't have the time." Umm...false. Every teacher leader I know is willing to invest time and energy if it will benefit kids. Summers are generally a good time to tap teachers for their expertise. And digital tools make genuine collaboration easy, even if the curriculum writer lives in California and the teacher lives in New York.

2. "Well, teachers know about instruction, but when it comes to content, I would turn to experts at a university level." Really? I know plenty of teachers with unparalleled content expertise, ranging from my high school English teacher who had her Ph.D. in literature to the math coach I mentioned in my last post. More importantly, every good teacher I know is an expert on children, and any educator worth her salt knows you can't separate the content from the learner.

3. "But teachers were involved—they gave feedback once the standards were written." Teachers are called on all the time to give feedback on new standards, policy, and curricula. Sometimes the people who wrote the originals are just looking for a rubber stamp; other times they genuinely want our insights to inform their revisions. But either way, there's a big difference between helping to build something and just giving it a thumbs-up or thumbs-down once it's built.

Teacher voice wouldn't matter if it had no impact on student achievement. But the glaring reality is that policy made without teachers often fails kids, and the same is true of standards and curricula.

The common standards are good. They represent a giant step forward from old state standards like Determine which types of soil best support bean plant growth. But if we're going to fulfill the promise of Common Core, powerful people need to realize that teachers are capable of a lot more than feedback.

Teacher leaders have a long history of adapting flawed systems so they work better for kids. Let's spend our time creating better systems on the front-end instead.

Justin Minkel teaches 2nd and 3rd grade in northwest Arkansas and was the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.

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Lillie Marshall

Teachers lag behind other careers in harnessing the power of social media, and a major reason is fear.

"It's dangerous to put my words on Twitter or Facebook," I've heard educators explain. "Who knows who might stumble across it? And you know, things on the Internet never go away."

Teachers frequently feel this undercurrent of fear. Each day, tabloid headlines scream "Teacher Fired for ___!", reminding us that we're constantly in the public eye—an eye that hungers to blame and judge.

Often this fear squashes our voices and stunts our potential as teacher leaders. But I think it is time for us to realize as teachers we are the ones who must must speak out about education, and we should use the most powerful tool currently available to do so: social media. Until we do, other people who know little about schools will do the speaking for us... incorrectly.

"But what if I accidentally tweet something that gets me fired?" some teachers ask. Listen, the first few months you drove a car were rough, but you got the hang of it. With practice, any educator can master the art of using social media in a professional, productive manner. Trust your sense of judgement as an education leader.

And rather than focusing on the evil eyes who want to catch teachers slipping up, remember the millions of hungry minds that yearn to hear from real educators. In her post below, Jessica Cuthbertson recalls an evening when she was in a restaurant with a group of teachers talking about standardized testing, and the family in the booth next to them began listening raptly. People are starving for "in the trenches" analyses of education by teachers.

Now, consider the potential of social media to amplify the voice of a teacher leader:

• In the restaurant, Jessica's analysis about testing was heard by eight to ten people, tops.

• If Jessica tweeted a comment or a link to an article about the topic, however, that could potentially reach her 217 Twitter followers.

• If I re-tweeted Jessica's tweet, it could be seen by a swath of my 4,000 followers. The likelihood is that one of my followers would retweet that retweet, thus exponentially distributing the information.

• Further, if Jessica also posted her ideas or article in the Education Bloggers Facebook Group and asked any of its 350 members to help share it, her thoughts reach thousands more people. (Disclosure: I run the Education Bloggers group.)

Now, why would a teacher with excellent ideas informed by years of experience in the classroom NOT want such an audience? Stop being scaredy-cats, teachers! People want to hear from you, and they need to hear from you, so start experimenting with social media so your voice is heard!

Lillie Marshall (@WorldLillie on Twitter) has been a teacher in the Boston Public Schools since 2003, and is passionate about creative forms of teacher leadership and teacher retention.

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Jane Fung

My teacher leadership started with a principal who believed I had the potential to make an impact beyond my classroom. She first invited me to write a grant for the school and continued to push me beyond my comfort zone, asking that I take on student teachers. Mine became a model classroom for teacher observations.

At the same time, a colleague who was already a teacher leader nudged, guided, and mentored me into leading professional development outside of our school and district.

The more experience I had as a teacher leader, the more opportunities came my way. And it all started with a simple invitation. Sometimes it just takes someone recognizing your potential and showing you how to take advantage of opportunities.

I believe that there are many ways to lead, and every teacher has the capacity to be a great teacher leader. I feel a strong sense of responsibility to encourage and support colleagues so that we become a profession lead by teachers.

I appreciate how the Teacher Leader Model Standards identify different domains in which teachers can lead and not specify how they should lead. Just as students have strengths and areas to build upon, so do teachers. There are many ways to lead—some more visible than others, but all vital to our profession.

For me, the most challenging and important domain is Number 7: Advocating for Student Learning and the Profession. Talking to the media, the public, or policymakers does not come naturally to me. But it is an essential part of who I am as a teacher.

If we don't make teaching public and speak out on our behalf, someone else will.

I have forced myself to say yes to every opportunity or invitation where a teacher voice is needed. Sometimes I am the only teacher, and most of the time I am terrified! But with every committee and panel I have participated in, I have gained more confidence in my abilities to represent my students and profession.

I have learned that people do want and need to hear from teachers.

And "teacher voice" is not just "out loud": Written words can be powerful, too. When a local administrator questioned the use of center time in our kindergarten classrooms, I wanted to advocate for our students and explain the importance of choice and unstructured play on a child's development. I wrote and published an essay and found that I was not alone in my opinion. I may not have changed minds, but I did inform and make public what effective practices looks like in the classroom.

No one knows more about what students, teachers, and schools need than we do. If we don't advocate for ourselves, we lose a critical opportunity.

Jane Fung is a National Board-certified teacher in urban Los Angeles, where she currently teaches 1st grade.

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Noah Patel

In my previous blogs last fall, I spoke about the importance of creating a meaningful career ladder for teachers. This proposal included opportunities for career advancement through mentoring. Additionally, I advocated for more formalized roles for teachers who wish to increase their influence while deepening their capacity and developing the skills of others. As a mentor this past school year, I loved being able to collaborate with a new teacher in my math classroom. While I brought expertise to our partnership, she brought fresh perspective and we worked together to advance not only her growth as a teacher, but most importantly the instruction our students received. This is the spirit of teacher leadership. The value of teacher leadership is that our children become the recipients of the best possible education we can provide.

Last year's Teacher Leader Model Standards clearly articulated the domains of effective teacher leadership. The seventh domain resonated most with me. It reads, "The teacher leader understands the landscape of education policy and can identify key players at the local, state, and national levels. The teacher leader advocates for the teaching profession and for policies that benefit student learning." Over the past few school years, I have been feeling an itch. It's not an itch to leave the classroom, or the system that I am in. The itch I have been feeling is a desire to extend myself beyond the walls of my room so that my work can impact not just my students, but also every student. While seemingly implausible and idealistic, I have slowly begun to navigate the experiences and organizations that are out there for teachers like myself to have such an impact.

In my role as a Teach Plus Policy Fellow, I was able to learn about the world of education policy and find my voice as an informed, invested teacher advocate at the table of policy discussions. As an Education Champion with America Achieves, I have been able to leverage that voice to advise national policy makers as an advocate for students and receive meaningful professional development. I have been able to grow immensely from these roles because these organizations identified areas where my personal skill set could grow and put me in positions where this growth could be nurtured and expedited. Put simply, they saw leadership potential and acted on it.

Every school in America has many teachers who have the potential to lead (some know it, some need others to help them see it), and administrators who often have way too many things on their plate. School and district leaders can take advantage of this potential by providing formalized opportunities for their teachers to lead. They must support teachers by developing their capacity as leaders. Having cadres of teacher leaders in schools and districts will serve to lighten the load of administrators, retain excellent teachers, and increase the scale of positive impact that teachers can have on students. Most importantly, as the 7th domain states, teacher leaders are advocates for the profession of teaching. By investing in the development of teacher leaders, we can professionalize teaching. We can provide a structure in which teachers are taking control of and responsibility for the quality of our shared work, for improving teaching and learning.

Noah Patel is a middle school math teacher in the Boston Public School District.

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Cheryl Suliteanu

Teacher leadership is a mind-set rather than a title; a perception of endless possibilities with every new experience; the belief that within myself I have the ability to bring new ideas to life; the knowledge that relationships are everything.

I chose to earn my National Board certification in English as a New Language because I was drawn to the community aspect of the standards, as I am drawn to Domain 6 of the Teacher Leader Model Standards, "Improving Outreach and Collaboration with Families and Community." A teacher leader recognizes the impact that families, cultures, and communities have on student learning, and promotes partnerships among our school community toward the common goal of excellent education.

In my first year of teaching, I discovered the potency of meaningful, consistent contact with families. The most challenging student I had has remained a constant part of my life over the last 15 years due to the frequency and depth of the conversations she, her family, and I had throughout her year in my class.

However, it wasn't until this last school year that I had an epiphany on the strengths of what families can contribute to classroom academic learning experiences. I asked a family who I knew had a garden (they'd brought me flowers on several occasions) to bring in a flower for a lesson on plants. The family didn't just bring one flower, they brought in a range of different flowers, including one in a clear vase for students to see the roots, and roses with the thorns cleared off so the children could handle them. I was awestruck at the depth this one family was able to contribute to my lesson on plants.

This experience ignited a spark within me to discover innovative ways to cultivate deeper relationships with families. But how? With what resources? With what extra time? Rather than get mired in the mud, I analyzed my desire to improve from a solutions-focused perspective: What could I do to overcome the challenges so that I will be successful?

Realizing that I needed to seek systemic support, I carefully crafted a proposal that represented my passion and understanding of the issue. I then share this proposal with a district leader whose position can "get things done,' and he in turn decided the superintendent himself should hear my proposal.

I would never have thought I'd be sitting down with my superintendent, presenting him with ideas for a district initiative. But the meeting went well. He responded with enthusiasm for not just the ideas I shared but for the creativity and passion with which I approached the issue.

Reflection, analysis, solutions-based thinking, and knowing the value of collaboration can be powerful tools for all teacher leaders. The possibilities are endless!

Cheryl Suliteanu has taught elementary school students in Oceanside, Calif., for 15 years.

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Lillie Marshall

Our definition of teacher leadership is too narrow. Examining the "Seven Domains of Teacher Leadership," a domain is glaringly missing: the rest of the world.

In my first five years teaching in a Boston Public School, I was no leader. Sure, I mentored a full-time student teacher, and I collaborated with my colleagues on projects that improved our school, but something about it felt limited.

It wasn't until I took a leave of absence in 2009 that I realized: I didn't feel like a teacher leader because I wasn't a leader beyond the education sphere.

During my leave of absence, that changed. I spent the year writing in Asia, working with a nonprofit in Africa, and learning Web design in Europe. I returned home in 2010 with skills, connections, and confidence that launched me into leadership beyond the education bubble. By the time I started my seventh year teaching in Boston, I was also running two global education websites, consulting for an ed-tech business, and leading a 200-person travel conference.

"So?" some might say, "Who cares if a teacher excels outside of the education world?" Well, we should care. In the 21st century, different professions are deeply interdependent. Isn't the purpose of school to prepare students for the "real world"? To achieve this, teacher leaders who also lead beyond the education sphere are key.

As my leadership grew in the realms of business, Web design, and event management, my prowess as a teacher increased. I was far clearer in showing students the real-world applications of the concepts we learned. My collaboration with colleagues also became more effective as I drew in strategies and contacts from outside the education realm.

Teachers have a dire marketing problem now, as we're attacked by people who don't understand our profession. Happily, we can begin to solve this by engaging beyond the traditional confines of our career. When I lead travel conferences or do social media marketing consulting, I frequently hear exclamations like, "I didn't know teachers knew how to do that!" By positively leading in domains beyond education, teachers work wonders for improving the image of our profession—an effect that's desperately needed in these demonizing times.

The 21st century is about connections across borders. This means we rob ourselves, our students, and our world if we cramp teacher leadership inside the education sphere. It is time to realize that a "teacher leader" is actually... a leader.

Lillie Marshall (@WorldLillie on Twitter) has been a teacher in the Boston Public Schools since 2003, and is passionate about creative forms of teacher leadership and teacher retention.

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Patrick Ledesma

Sarah is a department chair in her high school. In that role, she collaborates closely with administration to implement decisions on school wide initiatives to support her content area. She assists with hiring and designing the master schedule. She mentors and supports other teachers for all curriculum and instructional issues, and most importantly, serves as the expert in her content area to inform administrators, who have never taught in her subject area.

Janet is a special education department chair. In this capacity, she manages a department of 23 teachers and other staff providing services to over 200 students. She serves as the resource for all regulations and laws. This requires coordination with a variety of school and central office administrators and specialists. She is responsible for problem solving all parental and student issues, and being able to negotiate complex situations when conflict occurs.

Both Sarah and Janet, as teacher leaders, must perform duties far beyond what is expected of classroom teaching. These teacher leadership roles require a level of administrative and leadership skills that are more complex than the instructional responsibilities of classroom teaching. The ability to work with a variety of adults, each with their own unique personalities, motivations, egos, and biases, brings about many opportunities and challenges.

Unlike informal teacher leadership roles, Sarah and Janet are held responsible for the consequences of their decisions and performance.

The Teacher Leadership Model Standards begin to address the deep and complex knowledge and skills that teacher leaders must possess to be successful in schools.

For example, Domain 1: Fostering a Collaborative Culture to Support Educator Development and Student Learning addresses the functions of working with colleagues. Domain III: Promoting Professional Learning for Continuous Improvement addresses the professional development required to meet school improvement goals.

The Teacher Leadership Model Standards provide a common language to develop teacher leaders. But more is needed.

It's time for the profession to formally recognize that these specific teacher leadership roles are different from informal "leadership" roles.

For example, in many districts, Sarah and Janet will be evaluated as teachers, often with the same rubric given to teachers in classroom settings. They will be evaluated on components of classroom instruction such as managing student learning and classroom management—ironically, even if they do not have a classroom of students.

When these roles are not formally acknowledged, the implementation of teacher leadership roles will vary across schools. In some schools, department chair positions are given under a competitive and highly selective process based on skills and experience. At other schools, department chair positions may be filled with other criteria.

Time for Change

As these positions require different levels of expertise, they should be formalized with commensurate pay and specific evaluations.

The profession needs a career ladder that has levels of differentiation, areas of specialty, and recognition. Teaching will need to develop these official career paths to earn the respect already defined by other professions.

Patrick Ledesma is a middle school technology specialist and special education department chair with Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

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Jessica Cuthbertson

My parents said it often: "Never do something today that you don't want to read in tomorrow's newspaper." Their warning foreshadowed how quickly the lines can blur between a private and public persona—even before Facebook, Twitter, and rampant blogging.

Much of the work that goes on inside the walls of our classrooms is still invisible to those outside of the immediate learning community. But all teachers have public personas: We are recognized as teachers in coffee shops, grocery stores, and on walks with our dogs in the park. Community members ask us to speak for and as teachers, to provide our perspectives on everything from class sizes to cafeteria food.

I recently had dinner with a group of teacher friends. Over burgers and beer, we engaged in a lively conversation about the limitations of standardized testing and how testing is being used in our respective schools and districts. At one point in the evening, we noticed the family in the booth behind us had grown quiet, listening intently to our discussion. As parents of school-age children—children who had likely taken the state standardized assessment a few months earlier—they were clearly curious about the thoughts of teachers on this subject.

Knowing our conversation had been overheard by a captive audience, I reflected on what we had shared with each other. Were our comments, questions, and critiques appropriate for a more public audience? Did our discussion reflect what we want people to know about the challenges in our profession? And if our statements were relevant and appropriate, why weren't we sharing our ideas more broadly rather than making them accessible only to eavesdroppers? How could this kind of conversation, made public, be a conduit for change?

The Teacher Leader Standards articulate and elevate the qualities and characteristics of teacher leaders. Divided into seven domains, they cover terrain from collaboration to professional learning to action research. The seventh domain, "Advocating for Student Learning and the Profession," outlines aspects of a teacher's public persona: what advocating for our students and our profession should look and sound like.

These standards provide a framework for thinking about everything from casual grocery store conversations to writing our policymakers to publishing scholarly articles. They call upon us as teachers not only to think critically about our daily work with students inside the classroom, but also to advocate for our students and our profession after the end-of-day bell rings.

As 21st-century teacher leaders, we must ensure that our ideas find a more public place. Ours are perspectives worth considering—both in today's tweets and tomorrow's headlines.

Jessica Cuthbertson, a Colorado educator with 10 years' experience, teaches middle school literacy and has served as a literacy instructional coach for Aurora Public Schools.

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Justin Minkel

Kids pay more attention to what we do than what we say. That simple truth has profound implications for teaching 21st-century skills: If we want students to collaborate, innovate, and solve problems, we need to model these skills ourselves.

During the best week of professional development I have experienced, my colleagues and I taught one another. On Monday, our school's math coach stopped by my classroom to look at student work together and plan next steps. The following day, she observed me teaching and gave me the constructive criticism I had invited. Later that week, I went down the hall to watch an outstanding new teacher in the grade above mine integrate technology with productive group work. On Friday, the teacher next door came over to observe how I use Writers' Workshop to teach expository text structures.

My colleagues and I did what Singapore does so well—we took part in an "ecosystem" of education, an open system that enables best practices to escape the confines of each teacher's classroom. We also did what Ron Thorpe, the head of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, talked about at this year's International Summit on the Teaching Profession. Observing good teaching is not enough, he emphasized. Teacher leaders need to make explicit not just what they're doing, but what they're thinking.

We made time to share the thought process behind the instruction we observed in each other's classrooms. This intellectual aspect of collaboration has made Finland a leader in teacher recruitment and retention as well as student achievement. In Finland, teaching is a knowledge profession where teacher leaders engage in inquiry together.

The benefit of this collaboration to our students was twofold. First, we became better teachers that week. Second, we practiced what we preached. We set goals to hone our strengths and address our weaknesses, then worked together to meet those goals, just as we expect our students to do.

In Finland and Singapore, action research isn't just something preservice teachers do to get their teaching credential. Instead, designing questions about the craft of teaching is an integral part of teacher leaders' ongoing professional development.

At a policy level, the best systems bring teacher leaders and policymakers together as partners rather than adversaries. We have all seen politicians who cite the U.S.'s dismal PISA rankings to highlight the need for reform, then go on to suggest reforms like privatizing education or punishing "failing" schools that are the exact opposite of the best practices implemented by high-performing nations.

As teacher leaders, we need to make this simple case: If we want to transform the systems that shape 21st-century students, we need to transform the systems that shape 21st-century teachers, too.

Justin Minkel teaches 2nd and 3rd grade in northwest Arkansas and was the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.

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