In August 2016, wide-eyed, eager, and determined, I entered the role of Principal at Point Pleasant Elementary School within Anne Arundel County Public Schools. With 13 years of elementary teaching experience and two years serving as an assistant principal, I was confident my prior professional experience would translate well into my first principalship, but it is what I didn’t yet know that would become the accomplishment which I hold in highest regard: identifying, empowering, growing, and providing a leadership platform for the superstars within my midst, teacher leaders.

Unbeknownst to me, a rookie principal challenged with leading a 1^st-year AVID Schoolwide Elementary School, the key to unlocking schoolwide success and AVID Regional Showcase School recognition lay within those whom I was charged to lead—and those I would intentionally select to join our team—the teachers, and more specifically, teaching superstars.

Inspiring Teachers to Become Leaders

In order to reach high levels of schoolwide performance, it is necessary to identify and promote leadership from within. This also helps construct a foundation for repeatable success, elevate teacher and school community buy-in, and create a culture of driven, passionate, positive, and dedicated teachers.

The process for identifying teacher leaders within a school can seem daunting, but it is a process that must be met head-on and prioritized. I’ve learned there is vast potential within teachers. Leadership potential might otherwise go unnoticed if we as principals don’t intentionally focus on strategic relationship building.

It is through the relationship-building process, the informal conversations and interactions within a school day, that true understanding is developed. Armed with this understanding, leadership potential can be identified, specifically communicated, and developed through leading from behind and out front. Confidence and teacher leadership is cultivated within teachers through positive praise, opportunity, guidance, and structures for schoolwide influence.

Throughout my principalship, the process of identifying potential teaching stars and helping them realize this potential has yielded our greatest collective success. Teacher-led school improvement action steps (e.g., action-step development, planning, monitoring implementation, and monitoring effectiveness) create a schoolwide culture of collective efficacy. We have a collective belief that we are the determining factor for our students, with this belief being lived through action each day and our teacher leaders acting as the driving force to implement this belief.

This process is arduous, complex, and involves something that can be a bit frightening to principals—relinquishing control. However, I have learned that is has deep and significant value. Without exception, our school-based AVID teacher leadership strategically and intentionally drives the alignment and underpinnings of the four AVID Schoolwide Domains: Instruction, Leadership, Systems, and Culture.

Three Key Takeaways

Throughout my journey at Point Pleasant Elementary School AVID Elementary, I’ve found three key ways to support teacher leaders: Identify leaders; Grow their potential; and Provide a platform for teacher-led schoolwide AVID implementation.

1) Identification

Thirty teachers? Forty teachers? Fifty teachers? Do all teachers have superstar teacher leadership potential? Regardless of how many teachers are within a school, there are always stars in waiting. In my experience, the best strategy for identifying them is relationship building through informal conversation.

Spending time in each teacher’s classroom, both with students and without, is essential. Strategically plan and utilize time each day to connect with teachers, listen to them, and listen some more. Establishing professional rapport and building strong professional relationships is an intentional practice. Make this a daily priority, and you’ll soon be able to feel, see, and develop a strong foundational understanding of realized and unrealized potential.

Before moving on, let’s “double click” on this concept of realized and unrealized teacher leadership potential and how to unlock it:

• Begin planting seeds of praise and belief, both verbal and written.
• Meet individually to share your vision for their leadership. Utilize current strengths as a lever for AVID schoolwide structures and strategies. Articulation of steadfast belief yields confidence, grows positivity, and eliminates feelings of self-doubt.
• Challenge growing teacher leaders to plan and implement AVID professional development session(s) with other unrealized teacher leaders. This team approach leads to comfort, confidence, and escalating team spirit.
• Follow up with positive praise and written recognition (email follow up).
  
  

2) Growth

With teacher leaders identified and beginning to lead others within the school community, opportunities for more specific teacher leadership growth will become apparent. How will you elevate and grow teacher leaders who are demonstrating positive energy and the will to lead schoolwide AVID? Here are a few suggestions:

• Daily communication sessions with identified teacher leaders, both in-person and via digital communication.
• Set goals for personal growth, follow up, and continue to challenge teacher leaders to grow themselves and others, with emphasis on others. In growing others’ AVID structure and strategy capacity, teacher leaders are simultaneously growing themselves and their ability to lead.
• A pipeline of teacher leaders begins to take root, with teachers growing teachers and AVID buy-in multiplying exponentially. When this happens, expectations for implementation start coming from within the teaching community itself, specifically from those previously identified as AVID teacher leaders.
  
  

3) Provide a Platform to Lead

Now you and your school are on a roll. Teachers are becoming eager for leadership opportunities, growing themselves, and growing others, with AVID implementation buy-in rising to new levels. It is time to let them shine with AVID showcase opportunities.

• Teacher leaders are ready, capable, and want to showcase their AVID efforts. Connect with local school leaders to gauge interest in showcasing AVID implementation within your school. Provide AVID teacher leaders with a platform to showcase their work to outside educators. Alongside teacher leaders, collaborate and coordinate an AVID showcase event. Challenge your teacher leaders to highlight and illuminate AVID implementation by hosting local educators and AVID representatives for AVID professional development and school walkthroughs using an AVID lens. Teacher leaders run with the opportunity when given a platform to showcase their work.

Adopting and embracing these three key steps—Identification, Growth, and Providing a Platform to Lead—as part of our AVID implementation have had a transformative effect on my school and the superstar teacher leaders who make it work so well. Enacting these steps intentionally and with equanimity will help you find and unlock the potential of the superstars in your midst and create a virtuous cycle of momentum, progress, and engagement that will positively impact your school.