Teacher Leadership: The Pathway to Common Core Success
This report, by the Center for American Progress, focuses on collaborative approaches to address the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The report describes districts throughout the country that have taken approaches between management and unions to ensure that teachers have significant voice and leadership in implementation of the CCSS. The districts in this report vary in size, location, student demographics, socio-economic status, and student academic performance, but all have worked to give teachers a meaningful voice in decision-making during the implementation of the CCSS. While the specifics and nature of individual collaborative systems vary, similar types of teacher leadership opportunities are available in each district.
This report focuses on practices in six districts where union-management partnerships worked to provide teacher leadership related to implementation of the CCSS. In partnering with the Teacher Union Reform Network, the goal of this Center for American Progress paper was to “identify leading district that provide opportunities for teach input in the decision-making process in Common Core implementation.” The report’s value comes from the findings on shared leadership practices, as well as strategies and recommendations for teachers’ opportunities to play an informative role with colleagues in supporting CCSS implementation within a district.