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In today’s educational climate of data, differentiation, and accountability, teacher leadership is essential; and professional development schools (PDSs) offer distinctive settings for teacher leader practice and development. Building on chapter one, this chapter defines teacher leadership in PDSs, introduces distributed leadership theory, and provides a brief history of teacher leadership in the United States before asserting several characteristics that render PDSs ideal settings for studying teacher leadership. Instead of asking why we should study teacher leadership in PDSs and other school–university partnerships, a better question might be, why wouldn’t we?

This chapter features three personal reflections written by practicing teacher leaders from Florida, Ohio, and Maryland. The first reflection describes a collegial partnership between a practicing special education teacher and an undergraduate intern which has been sustained for many years. The second recounts a teacher leader’s serendipitous experience in cultivating new teacher leaders through collegiality, collaboration, and leading by example. The third describes how a college instructor’s participation in Project Teacher Leadership provided new leadership opportunities and inspired educational and professional growth. The chapter concludes with five questions for discussion and reflection.

This chapter features three personal reflections written by practicing teacher leaders from North Carolina, Kentucky/Missouri, and New Jersey. The first two reflections describe various challenges and successes of instructional coaches working with new teachers and experienced teachers in two different schools. The third reflection recounts one teacher’s frustrating experience trying to provide support for his school’s Parent and Teacher Organization. The chapter concludes with five questions for discussion and reflection.

This chapter features four personal reflections written by practicing teacher leaders from Indiana, Connecticut, Nevada, and New Jersey. The first two reflections describe the transition from teacher to teacher leader through active engagement in leadership roles related to teacher preparation, internships, and field experiences. The third reflection compares teaching in a professional development school (PDS) to teaching at a non-PDS site; and the fourth reflection considers the many benefits of teaching in a PDS, including the support of a professor in residence. The chapter concludes with five questions for discussion and reflection.

Professional development schools (PDSs) are a specific type of school–university partnership designed to support teacher preparation, professional development, inquiry and research, and student learning. Active teacher engagement in PDS work over the past three decades has led to the emergence of teacher leader practice and development as a serendipitous outcome of PDS partnerships. Emphasizing teacher leadership throughout, this chapter provides an overview of PDSs, including a definition and core purposes, benefits of continuous learning for all PDS stakeholders, and the complexities of PDS work before offering a brief history of PDS in the United States.

Recognizing the importance of developing professional identities and valuing the work of school-based teacher educators, this chapter outlines a specific context in which teacher leaders self-identified and worked across contexts to support teacher development within their schools. This chapter’s primary focus includes the perceptions and experiences of teacher leaders in school–university partnerships connected to one university in one identified role: liaison-in-residence. Three themes resulted from analysis of transcripts, journals, and memos: teacher leader identity developed within democratic leadership; teacher leader positionality stirs tensions in professional identity; and service and equity as key guideposts for leading and learning.

This chapter explores the alignment of teacher leadership and student learning in a professional development school (PDS) by reporting on a successful teacher-initiated PDS project at a southeastern United States high school. De-tracking efforts using teacher collaboration and efficacy in ninth grade Algebra I College Prep courses were examined for effectiveness to improve the achievement in mathematics of students who enter high school without pre-algebra skills. The chapter critiques the lack of democracy inherent in educational tracking as a default system of student grouping because it perpetuates inequities, particularly for students most likely to experience challenges with academic achievement.