ABSTRACT
Teacher leadership has been studied in the United States for 30 years, but less is known about American graduate programs that purport to prepare teacher leaders. This chapter describes a conceptual/qualitative investigation that first identified criteria for teacher leadership and teacher effectiveness in graduate programs. Using online resources, it explores certain graduate teacher leadership programs in America. Using website material and interviews, the chapter examines how they addressed teacher leadership versus teacher effectiveness. Novice teachers very much needed to concentrate on their own classrooms until they gained pedagogical mastery, before they thought about extra-classroom leadership roles. The recent emphasis on teacher leadership as a critical component of organizational change accompanies the shift in thinking from 'great man' theories of school leadership to a shared leadership model. The standards-based reform movement and growing focus on student achievement prompted an interest in teacher quality and teacher effectiveness, which was parallel to the growing understanding of teacher leadership.
