Portrait of a Teacher-Led School

This Educational Leadership article gives readers an insider’s view of how a teacher-powered school, the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy, operates.

At Denver’s Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy (and other teacher-led schools), teachers take ownership of student learning.

Author Lori Nazareno begins “Portrait of a Teacher-Led School” by saying: “Teacher job satisfaction is at its lowest point in the last 25 years. Only 39 percent of teachers identify themselves as “very satisfied,” a decline of 23 percentage points in just the last five years. One of the reasons for this decline is that teachers feel they are being held accountable for things over which they have little or no control.

Nevertheless, across the United States, accomplished teachers are taking hold of what they can do. And in some cases, they are turning their ideas into reality by taking on the challenging task of designing and running their own schools. I am one of those teachers.”

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