Teacher Leadership

Teacher Leadership at SCOE

The Teacher Leadership Program at SCOE offers learning experiences that support equitable student learning opportunities and contribute to robust professional learning cultures among faculty and staff in Sonoma County schools.

"Greatness By Design," a 2012 report from the state superintendent's office on educator excellence, highlights the importance of great teacher leaders to student success. The report calls for a strong investment in developing teacher leaders. It notes:

• Expert teachers and leaders are perhaps the most important resource for improving student learning.
• Many accomplished teachers have the desire and ability to provide professional support to their colleagues and prefer to continue working in the classroom rather than becoming administrators.
• There are few formalized career options that provide additional professional growth for teachers.
• The highest-achieving nations make substantial investments in teacher quality.
• Every aspect of school reform – the creation of more challenging curriculum, the use of more thoughtful assessments, the invention of new model schools and programs – depends on highly-skilled educators.

What do effective Teacher Leaders do?

Teacher leadership may take multiple forms. In 2008, a national consortium of educational leaders and researchers formed the Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium in order to develop the 2010 Teacher Leader Model Standards. These standards are based on extensive research. They are informed by the experience of exemplary teacher leaders and have provided the theoretical framework for emerging teacher leadership programs across the country.

The Teacher Leader Model Standards provide the following framework for understanding the seven complimentary domains that commonly constitute the multiple facets of teacher leadership in schools and districts.

• Domain I: Fostering a Collaborative Culture to Support Educator Development and Student Learning
• Domain II: Accessing and Using Research to Improve Practice and Student Learning
• Domain III: Promoting Professional Learning for Continuous Improvement
• Domain IV: Facilitating Improvements in Instruction and Student Learning
• Domain V: Promoting the Use of Assessments and Data for School and District Improvement
• Domain VI: Improving Outreach and Collaboration with Families and Community
• Domain VII: Advocating for Student Learning and the Profession

The Sonoma County Office of Education’s Teacher Leadership Certificate Program is designed to provide teacher leaders with practical, context-specific learning experiences that will develop further competency and expertise in each of the seven domains of the Teacher Leader Model Standards.