Teacher Working Conditions Survey Paper

2). The authors explain that in the 1990s when the first edition of their book was published, the term “teacher leadership” was generally unfamiliar within the educational community. The authors state that “by helping teachers recognize that they are leaders, by offering opportunities to develop their leadership skills, and by creating school cultures that honor their leadership, we can awaken this sleeping giant of teacher leadership” (Katzenmeyer and Moller, 2009, p. 3). During their study of teacher leadership, Katzenmeyer and Moller (2009), discovered that teachers are unwilling to be identified as teacher leaders due to the following: 1) lack of a supportive environment for the development of teacher leaders, 2) insecurities about their abilities to provide leadership for adults, and 3) at some schools, the tendency to treat all teachers alike, which can dishearten teachers from assuming leadership roles. Based on this information, the need to provide support and recognition for those teachers who are willing to step up and undertake leadership roles is important for schools and districts that wish to enhance the development of teacher leaders. Without these elements in place, one would assume that teacher leadership practices would not be prevalent. Nevertheless, providing a supportive environment and tapping into the numerous areas of expertise of those who make up the largest portion of the educational workforce, one can understand the potential impact of what Katzenmeyer and Moller (2009) refer to as “the sleeping giant” of teacher leadership. However, to determine if this is

Achieving a school district’s mission and vision requires the commitment of its stakeholders. In order to involve them in the process, it is necessary for educational leaders to “motivate staff, parents, students, board and community members” (Educational Leadership Constituencies Council, 2002, p. 4). The transformational leadership theory emphasizes the importance of educational leaders acting as role-models in order to motivate and inspire the school community. This approach has the potential to involve all stakeholders, leading to increased student success (Bush, 2007). The Assistant Director of Special Education in Northwest ISD directly supervised the school district’s assessment staff. Her education, experience, and passion set an example for her subordinates, stimulating them to achieve more, leading to her promotion to Executive Director of Student Services.

Based on my experience in the classroom and my educational background, I want to pursue a certification as a K-12 administrator because I want to help and work with a larger population of students. My desire to enhance the culture and community in a school building has come from working with three amazing, passionate, and dedicated administrators (one principal and two vice principals) in my school building. Their drive to positively influence the lives of students, collaborate with parents, and enhance the teaching styles of all the faculty members in the building, has motivated me to want to do the same. A new challenge is presented every day in a school building, and I want to be part of an administrative team that will successfully work together to overcome each and every obstacle in order to better the educational experience of students.

As a young student, I have always aspired to become a teacher. Growing up, what I realized was that teaching is my future. Teaching is all I have focused on for years, slowly preparing myself to become a teacher. It is my passion and it was I believe I am meant to do. The only thing that worried me over all was the amount of money that a beginning teacher gets paid. I worry because of my future family. I worry that I won't be able to support them with a low-paying salary that teachers receive. I do not want to juggle around more than one job because that would bring stress and take away my focus from teaching. Though it is not about the money and I would never do it for the money, I worry that I won't be able to live off a teacher salary. Teacher pay should increase because higher salaries would improve the quality of the candidates applying for teaching positions, retaining teachers will become easier, and overall to improve the quality of teachers so the success of students would improve.

Mrs. Lawrence: When planning a lesson, I start with the objective. What is it I am supposed to be cover. Once I know, I start with a hook. I access their prior knowledge then I move on with either an example or model. All along I ask questions to make sure the students

Our professional development sessions are conducted weekly in a variety of subject areas, and the monthly school-wide session, using interactive reform activities, align with the Danielson Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 2013) to showcase best practices of teachers and to develop grade-level performance tasks, looking at students’ work to provide individual feedback that is aligned with the teaching rubric in order to show academic progress and growth in the target areas of ELA and Math.

Professional Development measures the degree to which teachers value continuous personal development and school-wide improvement.

Carlos L. Mckinney, Myron B. Labat Jr., and Cherie A. Labat (for the remainder of this paper referred to as “the researchers”) set out to determine if there were common specific personal and professional traits/strategies associated with successful building principals of identified Blue Ribbon Schools and teacher morale. This study enlisted a number of teachers, counselors, principals and assistant principals from identified Blue Ribbon Schools in a southern state to participate in the study. During this study, the researchers used specific survey questions designed to identify behavioral leadership traits and the resulting staff/teacher morale. These survey questions were asked to educational professionals employed in the identified Blue Ribbon schools to determine whether there was a correlation between the principal’s behavioral leadership and the overall school culture as related to the resulting teacher/staff morale.

Teachers today face a number of challenges that contribute to a lack of job satisfaction, leaving schools for other professions that are more lucrative, low comparative compensation, and poor working conditions:

High poverty and low poverty schools are different in many ways. From student backgrounds to location, the socioeconomic makeup of a school affects everything. The one place where differences would seem to be minimal would in the professionals that work in these schools. This study sought to determine if teachers perceived significant differences in the behaviors of the leaders in their schools. Furthermore, the study expected to determine if there was a significant difference in how teachers perceived school climate by type of school. The answers to these questions could provide a basis for an examination of leadership behaviors that could cause teachers to leave schools or at the very least be less satisfied. This section includes

Educational leadership has changed and evolved through the years as a result of dramatic changes in the school culture, student demographics, environment, science, technology, and economy. Given the complexity and unpredictability of the demanding challenges to educate all children, prospective school leaders may find it desirable to define their own beliefs about instructional supervision and evaluation as they prepare for the rigor of school leadership practice. While enacting supervision, a supervisor is guided by certain values, assumptions, beliefs, and opinions that support the purpose and process of supervision (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2006). This can be described as the supervisor’s

Throughout this book, Sergiovanni is attempting to reframe the role of leadership in a school from an old paradigm focused on management and control and the view that a school is a formal organization, to a new paradigm of empowerment through caring, acknowledging the expertise of teachers and students, and facilitating their active participation in the school.

Professional development principles Ben embraces are Rigor, Relationships, Relevance and Realness. Mr. Rhodes continually emphasizes that work needs to have relevance and rigor in assignments and that the relationships teachers build with students is essential for success. Specific content used for staff development goals are Glenn Singleton’s work (Equity), National Achievement Gap, High Performing Schools, 90/90/90 Studies, 21st Century Skills, Marzano’s Instructional Strategies, and Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ literacy work. A variety of activities for teaching new skills to teachers occurs throughout the year. These include study groups, guest speakers, ERO (staff development classes), open classroom visits, master teachers sharing best practices in literacy, differentiated instruction, , math, and culturally responsive teaching, conference opportunities, mentors, district content area inservices, building inservice days, monthly district content area meetings, partnerships with universities, Collaborative Action Research for Equity (C.A.R.E.) cadre, and monthly building equity meetings. Mr. Rhodes uses the district Teaching Learning Cycle (Plan-Teach-Monitor- Adjust) to evaluate and assess the learning goals and make improvements. Ben also meets with Ben and the leadership team about the goals and creates the timeline to provide training and analyze progress. Evaluation of the learning goals using the SIP (as a living document) and individual goals are important

Effective school leadership today must combine the traditional school leadership duties such as teacher evaluation, budgeting, scheduling, and facilities maintenance with a deep involvement with specific aspects of teaching and learning. Effective instructional leaders are intensely involved in curricular and instructional issues that directly affect student achievement (Cotton, 2003). The writer of this paper acknowledges that school principals should play the role of instructional leaders, not just a school manager. The reality is that are many demands on a principals time and management skills making it difficult for most of them to spend time in classrooms, when performing teacher evaluation. Principals often make sure that teachers

The concept and practice of teacher leadership have gained momentum in the past two decades. Teachers are assuming more leadership functions at both instructional and organizational levels of practice. Empirical literature reveals effects of teacher leadership practice, teacher leader characteristics, and conditions that promote and challenge teacher leadership.