The profile of a teacher-leader
Carmen is a fourth-grade teacher with 10 years of experience in the field. She serves on her building’s Intervention and Referral Services team as well as the School Improvement Panel. She is looking for ways to continue to support her colleagues through her committee work. She has considered beginning a master’s program and earning her administrative credentials but still loves her time with students and is not certain she wants to be a principal or administrator. Carmen is a perfect candidate for the NJEA Teacher Leader Academy (TLA).
Sue taught for 15 years, and for the last three years, she has served as an instructional coach. While she has read some books and attended a few workshops on coaching, she has no formal training and has felt that she could be doing more to support her colleagues. Sue is also active in her union and has been an AR for the last six years. She has read about districts that have active labor management collaborative projects and has always wanted the union to be more involved in the professional practice of her members. Sue would be an ideal candidate for the NJEA Teacher Leader Academy.
Jack has been teaching high school chemistry and physics for 20 years. Last year, he took on the role of department chair for the science department in his school. This is a non-supervisory position, and he continues to teach two sections of physics. He has a supervisor’s certificate, but prefers not to go the administrator route, even though it would increase his pay. He finds the administrative tasks of the job to be straightforward and easy. What has been a challenge is working with all his colleagues and balancing his role as peer and leader. Jack would be a great candidate for the NJEA Teacher Leader Academy.
A path to leadership, from the classroom
All three of these teachers have realized that they find fulfillment in their classrooms but yearn to extend their leadership to working with colleagues as well. They have this gut feeling that there are ways to exert their leadership without becoming administrators, but they are unsure of just what that looks like.
This is what makes them excellent candidates for the NJEA TLA, a one-year program that leads to the New Jersey Teacher Leader Endorsement from the New Jersey Department of Education. Candidates can also earn 12 graduate credits through Thomas Edison State University.
There are several teacher leader programs across the state, most of them connected to a higher education institution. What makes the NJEA TLA different than these other programs?
All programs, including the NJEA TLA, are required to include instruction on seven teacher leader model standards. These include building collaborative communities, using research, promoting professional learning, facilitating instructional improvement, interpreting data and assessment, building family relationships and advocating for students and the profession.
At the NJEA TLA, we understand that anyone can learn this content. The real challenge is to be able to simultaneously walk the path of being both a peer and an expert. Through a carefully crafted interactive curriculum, the TLA has built in exercises that allow candidates to practice their leadership through the program. Graduates of the program have overwhelmingly described this approach as “transformational.”
If the idea of developing your leadership without taking the administrator route appeals to you or if you want to help build the capacity of your peers, check out the website at, njea.org/tla.
Applications for the next cohort, which begins in July 2027, are now open. The application can be found at the website listed above.