Award Date

12-15-2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education

First Committee Member

Bradley Marianno

Second Committee Member

Miguel Gonzales

Third Committee Member

Megan Griffard

Fourth Committee Member

Peter Wiens

Number of Pages

131

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between teacher leadership and student achievement through the lens of Distributed Leadership Theory. Specifically, it addresses three research questions: (a) To what extent is the implementation of teacher leadership by formally trained teacher leaders associated with academic success in schools? (b) Is there a difference in impact between formal teacher leader positions versus informal teacher leader positions? (c) How does having multiple teacher leaders in a school impact student outcomes? Using a two-way fixed effects design with a longitudinal panel data set, the analysis investigates the effects of employing teacher leaders trained through a formal leadership academy on student proficiency in English Language Arts and mathematics, as measured by standardized Criterion-Referenced Tests. Findings reveal positive associations between the presence of formally trained teacher leaders and student proficiency, particularly in math. Schools with multiple trained teacher leaders demonstrate greater gains, with results suggesting that each additional formally trained teacher leader contributes incremental increases in student achievement. Notably, both formal and informal teacher leadership roles are shown to support academic success, underscoring the potential of distributed leadership as a strategy for school improvement. This large-scale study contributes to existing literature by isolating the impact of formal leadership training on student achievement while also highlighting the cumulative effect of multiple teacher leaders within schools. The findings suggest that intentional investment in teacher leadership training and staffing may be a promising strategy for improving student outcomes.

Keywords

Distributive Leadership; Educational Leadership; Teacher Leader; Teacher Leadership

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership | Teacher Education and Professional Development

File Format

PDF

File Size

3000 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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