Rural teacher leadership in science and mathematics

Abstract

This study adds to our understanding of science and mathematics teacher leadership in rural schools. Through In Vivo and Concept coding of teacher interviews, we investigated 20 secondary science and mathematics teachers' perceptions of rural teacher leadership during their participation in a three-year professional development program. As the teachers developed as teacher leaders, they broadened their focus from improving their own students' learning to sharing new knowledge learned through the program with other teachers both informally and formally. We compared our program components to the Teacher Leader Model Standards and added an emphasis on the importance of disciplinary content knowledge. We also identified patterns in science and mathematics teacher leadership that are contextually connected to teachers' instruction in rural high poverty schools. Rural teacher leadership included the importance of building strong teacher-student relationships, providing new academic opportunities for students, encouraging students' success, and building community connections.

Understanding the Relationship of Science and Mathematics Place-Based Workforce Development on Adolescents’ Motivation and Rural Aspirations

“…This study was part of a 5-year teacher leadership development program aimed at rural districts within a southeastern state. In summer 2014, we accepted 20 of the 33 teachers who applied for the program through an application process that included a principal reference, a written essay, a transcript, licensure test review, and an interview (Lotter et al, 2020). All 20 teachers were certified in their content areas, had master's degrees, and had an average of 16.5 years of teaching experience at the time of their applications.…”

Exploring Teacher Leadership’s Effect on Teacher Burnout: Does School Rurality Make a Difference?

“…Between the two TL practices, NITL is particularly strong in rural schools. This is particularly interesting as much of the recent literature exploring TL in rural schools defines TL using the lens of ITL, not NITL (Lotter et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2022). Why do rural schools present higher levels of TL practices in general and higher levels of NITL in particular?…”

“…Research comparing rural to non-rural or rural to urban TL, let alone the associations between rurality, TL, and TB, is sparse. Much of what little research exists, specific to rural, non-rural, or urban TL has focused on the second wave of TL research, instructional leadership, both in the United States (Lotter et al, 2019;Beachum et al, 2010) and internationally (Wang et al, 2022;Liu, 2021). Researchers often reveal an urban-centric view, that urban life is the norm with rural communities representing isolation and remoteness (Kramer & Jahnke, 2019) which may contribute to the lack of leadership and burnout research on rural schools themselves and on their comparison to non-rural schools.…”

“…However, on school context, the school location or rurality was not examined. Therefore, further research on whether school rurality makes a difference in TL and its effect on TB is needed (Lotter et al, 2019). To fill the void, this study seeks evidence from the most recent 2020-2021 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) teacher data.…”

Viewing STEM Teacher Leadership Through a Communities-of-Practice Lens

“…The teachers describe the program as their "Noyce family," and they have supported one another during our planned sessions and through informal communication (e.g., phone calls, email, Facebook). MTFs identified the common context of rural high-poverty schools as important for reducing their isolation and connecting them through shared student problems and experiences (Lotter et al, 2020). In the following vignette, we provide an example of how the Noyce CoP impacted the teacher leader identity and skills of one MTF.…”