Teacher Leadership Stories
Bradford Hill
Building on existing physics curricula, including “Modeling Instruction” (Wells, Hestenes, & Swackhamer, 1995) and “Investigative Science Learning Environment” (ISLE) (Etkina & Van Heuevelen, 2001), Knowles Senior Fellow Bradford Hill developed a year-long curriculum for ninth grade physical science titled Patterns in Nature. Patterns in Nature revolves around four patterns of change—linear, quadratic, inverse and inverse square—commonly observed in physical phenomena that students explore and revisit throughout the year.
Susan McClellon
By implementing standards-based grading, Knowles Fellow Susan McClellon felt that she was able to teach her students more content, at a deeper level, than she had been able to in the past. She shared her experience with standards-based grading with her peers via a professional development session, which was attended by the science department chair and approximately 15 teachers from her school and the feeder middle school in her district.
Victor Chen
In the summer of 2012, Knowles Fellow Victor Chen used a grant from the Knowles Teacher Initiative to attend Critical Friends Group® New Coaches Training. In this training, he learned to provide teachers with the tools needed to create a collaborative culture and improve student achievement.
Recent Publications & Research
How Teachers Develop Social Capital
The Knowles Teacher Initiative commissioned Horizon Research, Inc. to conduct a qualitative multiple-case study of a sample of Knowles fifth-year Fellows and Senior Fellows to examine how Fellows developed social capital in their schools and/or districts. The main goals of this study, How Teachers Develop Social Capital, are to understand what the Fellows do as leaders, and what effects the Fellows’ activities have on their colleagues, schools, and/or districts.
Leading from Inside the Classroom
The Knowles Teacher Initiative commissioned Horizon Research, Inc. to conduct three case studies of Knowles Fellows to help understand the nature and impacts of Fellows’ leadership work, as well as the extent to which participation in Knowles programs supports their capacity to engage in leadership roles and contributes to their leadership efforts. The resulting cases in Leading from Inside the Classroom provide illustrative examples of leadership activities Knowles Fellows are immersed in and the impacts of these activities. Specifically, this paper describes the work of Knowles Senior Fellows Heather Haines, Amanda Kraemer and Shelley Stanphill.
Transforming as Inquiring Teachers and Leaders
The Knowles Teacher Initiative commissioned Inverness Research Inc. to provide a report on the results of a three-year pilot program, Practitioner Inquiry for the Next Generation (PING). As PING participants, 10 Knowles Fellows explored teacher inquiry. Transforming as Inquiring Teachers and Leaders documents key takeaways, an overview of the program’s impact on participants, and how it contributed to the organization’s capacity to achieve its mission of strengthening the teaching profession.
Cases of Leading Teachers
The Knowles Teacher Initiative commissioned Inverness Research Inc. to document rich examples of Knowles Fellows who are leading teachers: how they develop, how they work and how the organization best supports their efforts. Cases of Leading Teachers provides a slim but highly illustrative sample of the kinds of improvement efforts Knowles Fellows have enacted. Specifically, this paper describes the work of Knowles Senior Fellows Heather Buskirk, Bradford Hill and Charley Sabatier.
Standing Out In Their Field
The Knowles Teacher Initiative commissioned Horizon Research, Inc. to uncover how Knowles Fellows compare to their peers, and what, if anything, they attribute to their participation in Knowles programs. Standing Out In Their Field uses data from the National Study of Science and Mathematics Education, also designed and implemented by Horizon
How Do They Measure Up?
The Knowles Teacher Initiative commissioned Horizon Research, Inc. to survey Fellows’ principals or other school leaders to gain an understanding of how other stakeholders perceive Knowles Fellows, and a more nuanced and fully developed picture of the impact of our programs. How Do They Measure Up? leverages survey questions that parallel the questions asked in the National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education.
Seed Grants Report 2017-2018
Seed Projects are intended to improve education beyond the classrooms of Knowles Senior Fellows. Find out about the impact of the Seed Projects that were awarded to Senior Fellows during the 2017–2018 school year in our Seed Grants Report.
Seed Grants Report 2016-2017
Seed Projects are intended to improve education beyond the classrooms of Knowles Senior Fellows. Find out about the impact of the Seed Projects that were awarded to Senior Fellows during the 2016–2017 school year in our Seed Grants Report.
Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices And Perspectives
In December 2014, the Knowles Teacher Initiative published the inaugural issue of its new journal—Kaleidoscope: Educator Voices and Perspectives. Through Kaleidoscope, Knowles shares stories from teachers about teaching, leading and learning.