Growing Leaders Within: A Process toward Teacher Leadership

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Growing Leaders Within: A Process toward Teacher Leadership will aid school administrators in the task of growing and empowering teacher leaders. The goal of growing teacher leaders is to grow a school culture of shared decision-making and collaborative leadership. It is through this transformation that teacher leaders help school administrators to create a laser focus on student success. The underpinnings of the book are based on academic research resulting in a seven-step process to growing teacher leaders, which is distinctive from other books about teacher leadership. Schools may have several teacher leader candidates, but it is the responsibility of the school administration to ensure that the right individuals are chosen to become part of the schools leadership team. The role of teacher leadership can be diminished if the wrong individuals are selected. In response to this, the book offers school administrators a research-based, pragmatic growth process that ensures the right teachers are chosen to enter the leadership ranks at any school. Growing and empowering teachers to be leaders is now critical in all schools.

Reviews

Empowering teachers is one of the most important concepts in Education today. In their book, Growing Leaders Within, Coquyt and Creasman offer compelling thoughts about teacher leadership. They establish the importance of teacher leadership followed by practical steps for implementation. They offer characteristics for effective leadership that applies not only to Teacher Leaders but Leadership in general. As a 45-year educator who has served as a Superintendent of schools in schools ranging in size from 1100 to 41,000, the Executive Director of a State School Boards Association, and finally as a University Professor I have come to believe that Teacher Leadership is one of the most important initiatives in Education. I strongly endorse Growing Leaders Within as it is easy to read and would benefit any school administrator in their journey to growing teacher leaders. -- Keith Ballard, Professor at The University of Oklahoma; Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair in Education Leadership at The University of Oklahoma, Director of the Professional Development and Leadership Academy, former Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools,
The job of school and district leaders is becoming increasingly complex and demanding, making the need for highly effective teacher-leaders greater than ever before. In their new book, Coquyt and Creasman offer educational leaders practical guidance for the selection and development of teacher-leaders, taking the guesswork out of the process. Acknowledging that culture impacts every aspect of school leadership, the authors unpack those high-leverage skills and characteristics that will most likely lead to successful models of teacher leadership without taking a one size fits all approach. Growing Leaders Within is a much-needed human resource development tool that has the potential to take teacher leadership to the next level of effectiveness. -- Lu S. Young, Director of Next Generation Educational Partnerships and Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Kentucky, and Former Superintendent of Jessamine County Schools, Kentucky
Growing Leaders Withinprovides a strategic approach for school administrators as they begin the important process of growing teacher leaders. Coquyt and Creasman use of relevant concepts and theories, followed by explicit examples set the perimeters for school administrators embarking on the journey of growing teacher leaders. Their differentiation between characteristics and skills of teacher leaders is both new and practical validated by their own experiences as school administrators and through research.Growing Leaders Withinis an excellent book for any school administrator ready to empower teachers as leaders. -- Paul Borthwick, Professor Emeritus, Nova Southeastern University
Growing Leaders Within will inspire school administrators to start identifying, recruiting and growing teacher leaders now. Coquyt and Creasman explain teacher leadership in practical and simple terms, answers the why, what and how, and provides school leaders a growth process that can be adjusted based on their schools vision and needs. If you are teacher, you will say I need to get involved. If you are an administrator, you will wish you had read Growing Leaders Within sooner. -- Steven R. Miletto, Executive Director of the Heart of Georgia RESA, 2009 Georgia Principal of the Year, 2010 Finalist for NASSP Principal of the Year

Author Bio

Michael Coquyt, Ed.D., is currently an assistant professor of education at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He teaches primarily in the educational leadership graduate program. Coquyt also coordinates the curriculum and instruction graduate program. He has served as a superintendent, high school principal, and classroom teacher. He is the co-author of The Leader Within: Understanding and Empowering Teacher Leaders. Mike can be reached at michael.coquyt@mnstate.edu . He can also be found on Twitter at @MikeCoquyt. Brian Creasman, Ed.D., is currently superintendent of Fleming County Schools in Kentucky. He has served as an assistant superintendent, a high school and middle school principal and assistant principal, and an instructional technologist and classroom teacher. He is the co-author of The Leader Within: Understanding and Empowering Teacher Leaders. Brian can be reached at briankcreasman@gmail.com. He can also be found on Twitter at @FCSSuper.