Abstract
Brief Literature Review
The review of the literature outlines three subtopics. The first subtopic outlines the factors of teacher leadership according to the research. Those factors include having a teacher leader as an effective instructional leader who can embrace the vision of an administrator for the purpose of increasing student achievement in a data driven decision making school according to the research. The second subtopic outlines how an administrator, according to the research, uses data driven decision making techniques, elects well experienced teacher leaders, and creates an environment where decisions for adults and children can be attributed to democracy and challenges in creating teacher leadership. The third subtopic describes what the literature says about the challenges of creating teacher leaders. Those challenges include, administrators recruiting and retaining diverse teacher leaders and the need to recognize and provide equity to all diverse children in schools and prepare them for a multicultural democratic society. The literature supports the establishment of a teacher leadership position. Statement of the Problem
The study determined that the board approved position in the district of Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA) or teacher leader in the district, has been effective towards the improvement of district and school goals.
Methodology
The qualitative and quantitative (Johnson & Christensen, 2004) study conducted of observing and reviewing the responses to questionnaires of twenty-eight teachers, six from the each school and one from each grade, kindergarten to grade six. District demographics of students and staff were correlated with teacher response and literature review in support of teacher leaders.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The study resulted in a strong belief that teachers would rather receive support from administrators or teacher leaders to improve student learning and instructional strategies. Therefore, administrators must rethink the structure of the leadership in the school setting. With administrators having increased duties and less attention towards classroom instruction, the researcher recommends to structure the position of teacher leader under the supervision of the site administrator.