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The Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) Certification process introduced in Australia in 2012 was designed to recognise expert teachers, to encourage them to continue to influence and impact their students and colleagues through their exemplary classroom practice. Expert teachers prepare evidence of their impactful practices, and have this evidence evaluated through a National Certifying Authority. HALTs are a relatively new role in Australian education, and little is known about their impact in schools, or the potential for their ongoing role as middle leaders in schools. This paper analyses the experiences of HALT teachers who had been certified by Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) in 2018, and what impact they recognised they were having in the schools who supported them through their certification process. Impact is theorised as a temporal, reflexive narrative. Data were gathered in a cascading evaluative process through portfolio analysis, interviews with nationally certified teachers, school-based mentors and school leaders and a survey about their teacher and middle leader efficacy. The process of applying for HALT Certification had significant positive personal impact for the teachers, their students, their colleagues in their school and for some, beyond their school. The recognition of impact as a temporal narrative with distinct genres, and the concept of HALT teachers as middle leaders may point to new avenues of supporting applicants and to potential benefits for schools to encourage teachers to consider national certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, teachers are considered accountable for continuous improvement in student achievement. They are expected to integrate and analyse data from multiple sources in order to make decisions aimed at positively influencing student outcomes. Given the growing recognition of the importance of data-informed decision making in teaching, it is important to understand how teachers can best be supported in this. Currently, there is little research into how teachers can facilitate data literacy development for their in-school colleagues. This study employed an interpretive qualitative methodology to focus on the experiences of mathematics lead teachers (MLTs) in leading change to support the development of their colleagues. MLTs were found to use a range of tailored strategies, providing 'on the job' and 'just in time' support, and demonstrating evaluative and adaptive capabilities. They were found to provide leadership in the development of data-informed decision making through their collaborative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This survey-based self-study explored how teachers' commitments to a formalized lead teacher role in relationship with a university partnership impacted their perceptions of themselves as educational leaders and as agents of change; and how these perceptions impacted P-12 student learning. The study showcases the importance of creating an infrastructure that includes a lead teacher component when establishing professional development school (PDS)-university partnerships and demonstrates the value and impact that teacher leaders bring to partnership work. Through this study, the authors hope to further professionalize and exonerate the role of lead teacher in order to encourage others to "dare greatly" by building on this effective model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to establish an empirically substantiated professional development programme for teachers to become lead teachers who are able to support professional development of peers in times of curriculum innovation. The design of a professional development programme, participants' learning outcomes and their interrelatedness are described. The three main interventions in the professional development programme are: (A) a national learning community of lead teachers-in-training to participate in formal training and peer intervision; (B) regional learning communities of teachers where lead teachers-in-training practice their leadership qualities and receive feedback on their functioning as lead teachers; and (C) self-reflection to stimulate awareness of learning progress among participants. This qualitative case study reports the results of the designed programme embedded in the implementation process of a context-based chemistry curriculum in secondary education in the Netherlands. Results show that participants acquire intended learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills and dispositions. These learning outcomes are invoked by the combination of interventions in the professional development programme. From the results it can be concluded that the designed professional development programme has potential to train teachers to become lead teachers to support curriculum innovation. Abbreviations: CIMO : Context Intervention(s) Mechanism(s) Outcomes; LT(s) : Lead Teacher(s); NLC : National Learning Community; RLC : Regional Learning Community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Center-based child care has been struggling with poor health and high turnover rates of child care staff and their adverse impact on care quality for decades. Yet little is known about personal and structural antecedents of job resources and job demands that are valid predictors of health and turnover in the child care workforce. Research Findings: This study investigated job resources and job demands among child care staff of different education levels (491 lead teachers and 310 assistant teachers) from Switzerland. Results from t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses indicated slightly higher job resources and job demands for lead teachers than for assistant teachers but similar antecedents of job resources and job demands. Overall, center characteristics shaped job resources and job demands more strongly than staff characteristics. More specifically, job resources were predicted by structural characteristics associated with professionalism in child care work, whereas job demands were primarily dependent on adequate staffing. Practice or Policy: The findings suggest that center characteristics (e.g., work environment and staffing levels) should be targeted in order to increase job resources and reduce job demands, which would in turn promote health and lower turnover rates among child care staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on a school improvement initiative undertaken by a private university in Pakistan. The Whole School Improvement Programme, designed with the purpose to improve the quality of education appropriate to children and teachers of poor communities, is being implemented in selected elementary schools. Central to the program is capacity-building of teachers as leaders. The program seeks to gain a better understanding into the ways in which teacher leadership can influence school change leading to improved student learning. The program focuses on institutional capacity-building through development of teacher leadership. Twenty teachers were developed as Lead Teachers. The Lead Teachers are responsible for leading the work of school improvement as internal change agents. The immediate impact of the training program on the Lead Teachers was assessed through comparison of pre-course and post-course test data supplemented by qualitative data. Comparison of the data indicated significant impact of the program on the confidence level of the participants in their competence as Lead Teachers. The qualitative data showed that a considerable shift has occurred in how they think about school improvement, how they perceive their role in school improvement and how they judge their abilities to work as Lead Teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2008-09, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) sponsored a professional learning initiative entitled, Teachers Learning Together: The Math Journey. The context for teachers was one of team-based, collaborative action research (CAR) dealing with a mathematics topic of their own choosing. University researcher teams in provincial regions were also enlisted to facilitate the CAR activities and to conduct case study research and reporting. Each teacher team designated a Lead Teacher (LT) for the duration of the project. This paper highlights the case study research findings pertaining to perceptions of role and responsibility of the LTs, and focuses on four emergent roles, namely that of manager, motivator, model, and mediator. Lead Teachers are shown to be essential to the collaborative action research process. Notwithstanding, recommendations regarding the actual LT designation, and a clearer communication of LT role and responsibility are also made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insights on the role played by lead mathematics teachers in the improvement of the achievement mathematics through collaboration with teachers the expand the understanding on mathematical processes. Topics discussed include the job description of a lead mathematics teacher, the role of lead mathematics teachers in professional development, and the importance of learning materials on elementary mathematics instruction.

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ growth in understanding of algebra using concept maps. The study was set in the context of a five-year National Science Foundation funded teacher retention and renewal professional development project. In this project both beginning and experienced teachers are supported as they increase their understanding about mathematics, their ability to implement effective mathematics practices in their classrooms, and their knowledge of working with English Learners. Results indicate that teachers’ algebraic knowledge structures became more complex and connected as a result of their professional development. In addition, they were able to adapt their knowledge networks to incorporate important aspects of algebra into them. Concept maps are recommended to other leaders of mathematics professional development as a means of assessing change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a rich history of researchers developing curricular materials aimed at enhancing student learning in American classrooms. Though many of these innovations have been successful on a small scale, institutionalizing them so they become part of a district's instructional culture has been a challenge. As large districts try to scale up and sustain the use of successful innovations, they are faced with the task of supporting many teachers with varied levels of experience with the materials on an ongoing basis. This article describes our efforts within a mature district–university partnership to build the district's capacity for providing this support. In this effort, university researchers have participated with district curriculum specialists in a workcircle to support district lead teachers as they plan and conduct professional development around reform‐based curriculum materials. Our approach has been to build on the classroom expertise of the lead teachers by providing them with access to theoretical and research‐based knowledge relevant to their work as professional developers. We use two examples of our work with the lead teachers to describe how theoretical ideas from the learning sciences guide our efforts. These ideas include the situated nature of knowledge and learning, the role that communities of discourse and practice play in refining practitioners' understandings, and the use of a cognitive apprentice model to scaffold lead teachers' understandings and enhance the district's capacity to scale and sustain reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the role and duties of lead teachers in career ladder programs. Career ladder in education in the United States; Justifications for the recommendations of the lead teacher role and duties.