ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the need by giving voice to the experiences and understandings of teacher-leaders who are the directors of several public alternative elementary schools in New York City. It describes a university professor who has been both a researcher and an educator of educators in a number of collaborative school–university partnerships. The chapter discusses a former teacher-director who created and developed a learner-centered school. The need for leadership in the struggle to build and transform schools into places where students can learn in challenging, meaningful, and purposeful contexts is the subject of much discussion and many reports. Assessments of student work are intricately connected to and supportive of meaningful teaching and learning. When visiting any of the Center for Collaborative Education schools, one is struck by how clearly their core values are evidenced in their policies and practices.
