Four School Leadership Teams Define Their Roles Within Organizational and Political Structures to Improve Student Learning

The Relation Between School Leadership From a Distributed Perspective and Teachers’ Organizational Commitment

“…These should be known and accepted by the members of the leadership team and the teachers. In contrast, role ambiguity, which occurs when people do not know what is expected of them, will lead to team ineffectiveness (Buelens et al, 2006;Chrispeels, Castillo, & Brown, 2000;Chrispeels & Martin, 2002;Oswald, 1997;Sanders, 2006;Wise, 2001).…”

The effect of teacher leader interactions with teachers on student achievement: a predictive study.

“…Essentially, this described how the theory of distributed leadership might look. Principals worked with teacher leaders to provide leadership for change through participation in shared redundant tasks, inviting teachers to share creatively in the work and responsibility of leadership with the intent to improve teacher instructional performance (Heller & Firestone, 1995;Muijs & Harris, 20(6) and student learning (Camburn et aI., 2003;Chrispeels & Martin, 2002). The critical influence of the leadership style of the principal in implementing distributed leadership was reiterated (Datnow & Castellano, 2001;Grubb & Flessa, 2006;Harris, 2002;Temperley, 2005;Turnbull & Mee, 2003;Whitaker, 1997).…”

“…Teams that gained authoritative position in the school after 3 years maximized their expert power to influence teaching and learning. Chrispeels and Martin (2002) suggested that the findings had implications for policymakers and educational leaders. First, development of new structures such as school leadership teams could be the catalyst for changing power and authority relationships.…”

“…Principals mentored teacher leaders to provide leadership for change through participation in shared redundant tasks, inviting teachers to share creatively in the work and responsibility of leadership with the intent of improving instructional performance (Heller & Firestone, 1995;Muijs & Harris, 2006) and student learning (Camburn et aI., 2003;Chrispeels & Martin, 2002). The research offered descriptions of how distributed leadership could be enacted with effective principals and skillful teacher leaders to improve teaching and learning, but no statistical data confirmed the relationship between teacher leadership and student achievement.…”

“…This evolution into teacher leadership teams raised new questions about how such a configuration would fit into existing organizational structures, rules, and relationships, and how effective such groups would be in improving teaching and learning (Chrispeels & Martin, 2002). Emphasis on teacher leader teams which encouraged and facilitated job-embedded professional development determined by teachers was believed to contribute to a culture of learning for teachers and students (Thompson, Gregg, & Niska, 2004).…”