Real Change Happens Through Teacher Leadership
Susan Bell
Saturday, April 9, 1:15-2:30 p.m., Convention Center, 1st Floor, Room 13

Leadership has gotten a lot of attention lately in research, books, and articles. It is key to achieving significant gains in our educational system. We all know that it takes more than just one or two administrators to pull everything together, but often we miss out on developing the teacher leadership that will sustain growth and continue the programs for long-term success. Ongoing change, beyond turnaround efforts, happens when the teachers take ownership.

This session will discuss several key points, starting with a school culture that promotes shared leadership. My appointment as principal of a dysfunctional school—one where teachers in different grade levels wouldn’t speak to each other—provided me with the challenge of creating a collaborative culture that resulted in  significant gains. During my session, I’ll share how we developed a collaborative mission statement that was authentic, improved our teams, created a strong teacher leadership team, and even increased parent involvement. 

Seek out, support, and develop your teacher leaders and you’ll find that they are the most valuable asset that you have. 

—Susan Bell