Flexibility and Sustainability: Driving Reimagined Teacher Roles
Reimagining Teacher Teacher Leadership
In Flexibility and Sustainability, Empower Schools and Teacher-Powered Schools examine how Duggan Academy in Springfield, Massachusetts reimagined teacher leadership through the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership.
The case study shows how Duggan’s Teacher Leadership Team works with the principal to shape key decisions about calendar, schedule, professional development, academic structures, budget, and teacher working conditions. It also explains how SEZP’s governance structure, modified collective bargaining agreement, and school-level flexibility helped make teacher leadership more formal, sustainable, and connected to student outcomes.
Empower Schools supports the launch, operation, and sustainability of Innovation Schools through direct partnerships and by advocating for the policies, governance structures, and local conditions that make school-level innovation possible.
In this resource:
How Duggan Academy uses a Teacher Leadership Team to guide school-level decisions
How Innovation School flexibility can support teacher voice, retention, and sustainability
How SEZP’s governance model enabled new teacher leadership roles
How Duggan paired flexibility with accountability for student and school outcomes
What other schools and districts can learn from Duggan’s approach to teacher leadership
Best for: district leaders, school leaders, teacher leaders, state education leaders, policymakers, and advocates exploring Innovation Schools, teacher leadership, school-level autonomy, or educator empowerment.
This case study was co-produced as a special collaboration between Empower Schools and Teacher Powered Schools. Learn more about Teacher Powered Schoolshere.
