Posted by:
Nancy Terman
Posted on: May 21, 2001 at 5:59 PM
Message:
Selection.
Since the design of our project was based on having 1-2 teacher leaders (or "Site Facilitators" as we called them) at each of the 16 school sites, the selection process varied. Teacher leaders with whom we had worked in prior math education projects were encouraged to take on this role at their school. In other cases, the principal of the school recruited the Site Facilitators and in a few cases asked relatively new teachers to take the role because there were not any veteran teachers who wanted to take this responsibility in mathematics. The leadership team that resulted was a combination of very experienced teacher leaders and some fairly inexperienced teacher leaders. We found that, even in the case of the experienced teacher leaders, presenting at their own school was often more challenging than presenting to a group of strangers.Time necessary for leadership development. This is difficult to answer because it varies according to each individual teacher and what they bring with them to the leadership role. I think that working with the group for the full first year before requiring that they conduct professional development would help build their knowledge and confidence. We had ten days with the leadership group in the first summer and accomplished a great deal at that time but also had so much to do during that time including helping them define/understand
their role as a Site Facilitator. I would like to hear from others on this question.
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