In 1996 I was elected to my local school board. During my nine-year tenure, I was frequently disappointed that so few of the issues we were asked to address were directly related to what happened between teachers and students in the classroom.
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In reviewing the decisions we made that did affect the classroom, I remember two specific examples. Early in my tenure, the school board adopted a goal that all students would graduate as proficient writers. While everyone supported this goal, the high school English teachers bore the brunt of this decision--they were the ones who would be required to assign and grade more writing. They spoke up about this impact on their workload. They lobbied the district administration and ultimately the school board to reduce their teaching load so that they would have the time to grade the additional assignments in order to achieve the new goal. They presented a compelling case, we listened, and we agreed. The school board adopted a new policy limiting high school English teachers to teaching four rather than five classes a day.
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In a second example, I recall a response to a state-mandated teacher evaluation system based on a list of best practices. Evaluators visited classrooms for the purpose of checking off practices demonstrated by teachers during one observation period. Several schools recognized the new policy was doing very little to advance good teaching and was in many schools preventing it. At the same time, many school leadership teams that included administrators and teachers were implementing forms of peer coaching, and believed they were having a more significant impact on helping teachers improve.
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Representatives from these schools approached the district administration to request the school board seek a waiver from the state-mandated teacher evaluation process for experienced teachers. They sought to substitute their coaching alternative for the checklist process. Teachers played a key role in lobbying for the change, and the school board agreed. As several years passed, this practice spread to all the schools in the system, and each year the school board renewed its request to the state education agency.

These experiences reinforce for me the importance and impact of teacher-led reform. Effective teacher networks serve educators and students by providing collegial support that builds and retains great teachers by improving classroom practice, spreading great practices across school and district boundaries, and offering teachers a vision for demonstrating leadership. In addition, they promote the effective participation of teachers in the important policy discussions and decisions that most directly affect student achievement. ﾠ

I encourage educators at all levels to revisit their own experiences with teacher networks. Consider the added value they brought to you, the other members, and students. Imagine if all teachers were given the opportunity to serve and be served by a network that addressed all the potential outcomes of successful networks. Through this opportunity, we could ensure that every student experiences great teaching every day, that every teacher receives the support necessary to help students achieve their goals, and that every decision maker is informed by the expertise of the individuals doing the work they intend to impact. ﾠ

Stephanie Hirsh is NSDC's Executive Director. This post is exerpted from Hirsh's foreword to the book, The Power of Teacher Networks, by David E. Kirkland, Ellen Meyers, Nancy Fichtman Dana, and Peter A. Paul.