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Success Story: Strengthening Teacher Leadership in West Virginia

R5CC continues to support teacher leadership in West Virginia.

The West Virginia Legislature passed House Bill 4804, directing the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) to help county school systems design and implement a Teacher Leadership (TL) Framework to support teacher induction and opportunities for professional growth. To support WVDE, the Region 5 Comprehensive Center (R5CC) conducted a scan of the literature on designing and implementing aligned TL programs and authored several related blogs (Identifying Competencies for Teacher Leader RolesDesigning Teacher Leadership Roles,  Aligning Teacher Leadership Initiatives). Informed by these resources, the WVDE developed the County Planning Document with eleven sections that address common barriers of TL programs. In summer 2021, 85 percent of counties submitted TL county applications, and the R5CC used those completed applications to assess capacity needs. Key findings from the scan were shared with the WVDE and the WV Legislative Oversight Committee on Education in in October. SEA staff at the WVDE commented on the R5CC support, “I am extremely pleased with the support the WVDE is receiving around teacher preparation and teacher leadership at this time.”

R5CC staff continued to support the implementation of teacher leadership by publishing two related articles—Leaning in on Management to Empower Teacher Leaders in the Journal of Education Human Resources –and were guests on Education Talk Radio.