Strategic Staffing: Achieving Better Results Through Teacher Leadership

The Most Effective Lever for School Improvement Is Already in Your Building

Report: Strategic Staffing: Achieving Better Results Through Teacher Leadership

In our latest report, we outline how NIET operationalizes strategic staffing – elevating teachers into leadership roles to tap into their instructional expertise and leadership potential. Strategic staffing is a cost-effective, proven way to achieve better results with existing staff and resources.

NIET works with district partners across multiple states to implement a model of strategic staffing called the TAP System, with proven impact on student achievement growth. Our report identifies six strategies that result in improvements in teacher effectiveness, recruitment, retention, and, ultimately, student achievement.

How the TAP System Operationalizes Strategic Staffing

1. Distributed leadership: Engage teacher leaders in the instructional leadership team and shared decision-making.

2. Innovative teaming structures: Use teacher leaders to create an effective, coherent professional learning and coaching system.

3. Extended teacher reach: Identify great teachers and give them a formal leadership role.

4. Staffing structures that intentionally cultivate teacher pipelines: Create multiple, interconnected teacher leadership roles sequenced in a career ladder.

5. Compensation structures differentiated by role: Pay teacher leaders for taking on instructional leadership roles and responsibilities.

6. Technology that optimizes educator roles/time: Provide access to resources that support individual teacher reflection and growth.