How Shared Leadership is Raising the Bar for Alaska Schools

By Robyn Taylor, Superintendent of Petersburg School District, Alaska.

Schools have untapped instructional expertise within their walls, and strategic staffing can help unleash it. As one of the six characteristics of strategic staffing that drive improvement, outlined in NIET's latest report, distributed leadership empowers teacher leaders, unites teams, and builds conditions so that educators thrive and stay in the profession. The accompanying piece offers a real-world example of this core characteristic, illustrating how distributed leadership raises the bar through partnerships in Alaska.

In Petersburg School District, we’re seeing how empowering teacher leaders, working in partnership with school leaders, makes a lasting difference. Through our partnership with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), we’re building a culture where teachers lead learning, support one another, and grow together. This shared leadership structure has improved collaboration, strengthened instruction, and is helping us retain great teachers — all of which are essential in a small, rural district like ours.

At both the elementary and secondary levels, our teacher leaders have shown real courage and vulnerability as they guide professional learning and mentor their colleagues. This work isn’t about adding another program. It’s about being intentional — using evidence-based practices and understanding how different strategies impact student growth.

One of the most meaningful outcomes has been creating a common language for learning across the district. Together, we developed our Learning Disposition “ROCC,” which describes what it means to be a Petersburg learner: Resilient, Open-Minded, Confident, and Connected. These qualities guide both teaching and learning and help everyone — students and adults — understand what success looks like in our schools.

Each teacher is creating clear learning intentions and success criteria, then using data to check how well students are understanding and growing. This practice keeps our attention on learning, not just getting through lessons.

We’ve also anchored our work in John Hattie’s three key questions:

• What are they learning?
• Why are they learning it?
• How will they know when they’ve learned it?

These questions help teachers and students stay focused on purpose and evidence — on learning that truly sticks. 

Through our partnership with NIET, teacher leaders are learning to support one another through classroom observations and coaching conversations. The feedback and reflection happening through these coaching cycles are building trust, professional confidence, and stronger classrooms.

As teacher leader Erin Hoffacre shared, “Leadership teams are creating opportunities that are directly empowering teachers with the skills to lead and collaborate – ensuring the pursuit of district-wide teacher efficacy will be a lasting success.”

Erin’s words capture what we’re experiencing across the district — teachers leading with purpose, confidence, and care, and supporting one another in ways that will last well into the future.

This focus on shared leadership has made a real difference. We’re seeing better teacher retention and a stronger sense of teamwork across our schools. In a small, rural Alaskan community, where recruiting and keeping great teachers can be a challenge, creating a supportive and empowering environment matters more than ever.

As superintendent, I’m so proud of how our educators have embraced this work. In Petersburg, we know our greatest strength is our people — and when we invest in their leadership, we raise the bar not just for our schools, but for our entire community.

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About the Author

Robyn Taylor serves as Superintendent of Petersburg School District in Southeast Alaska. She is dedicated to building teacher leadership, instructional excellence, and collaborative systems that empower educators and students alike. Her work reflects a deep commitment to strengthening rural education and ensuring every learner in Alaska has the opportunity to thrive.