Aspiring Teacher Leader LEAD

Teacher leadership is critical for improving our schools and outcomes for students and that importance has been demonstrated by both research and practice as it relates to student learning, teacher retention, and school culture. HCS needs teacher leaders who are ready and willing to increase their influence and impact while continuing to be highly effective instructors inside the classroom. The Aspiring Teacher Leader LEAD program is designed to equip teachers with high-impact instructional strategies and teacher leader skills and competencies that will help them expand their impact by taking on school-based leadership roles.


Training and Practicum of the Program:

  • Throughout the year, candidates will engage in both full-day and after-school professional learning sessions, facilitated by internal and external experts, that focus on key aspects of teacher leader standards and competencies. This structure is subject to change based on needs of the program and participants. 
  • Candidates will have the opportunity to engage in project-centered professional learning that addresses equity gaps in their own schools, and present the outcomes of their projects to school and district leaders. 


Eligibility Criteria:

  • Current HCS teacher with three or more total years of teaching experience
  • Evidence for 1+ year of strong student achievement and/or student growth
  • Potential of initiative and leadership


Application Components for Initial Screening:

  • Current, up-to-date resume
  • Recommendation from the applicant’s current principal (recommendation form will be sent by the Talent team)
  • Prior effectiveness data submission (ATL LEAD Data Submission Guidelines)
  • Most recent Project COACH summative evaluation rubric (from T-Eval)
  • Most recent summative evaluation overview (from TNCompass)


Selection Process:

  • Phase 1: Screening - Each applicant's application components will be screened by multiple district leaders using a screening rubric. 
  • Phase 2: Interview - Applicants with satisfactory screening scores will be invited to interview with a small panel of district leaders. 
  • Phase 3: Selection - Candidates will be selected for the program based on a combination of their screening and interview scores. The number of candidates selected for a new LEAD cohort is based on multiple factors and may change from year to year.


Aspiring Teacher Leader LEAD (2024-2025)

The application for the 2024-2025 cohort of Aspiring Teacher Leader LEAD will be available in iCims from January 22 - February 4, 2024. The ATL LEAD application flyer can be found here

If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to attend one of our virtual LEAD application information sessions. Please register here for one of the following information sessions: 
- December 12th - 3:30 and 5:00 pm
- December 14th - 3:30 and 5:00 pm
- December 19th - 3:30 and 5:00 pm
- January 4th - 4:00

LEAD Application Resource: We encourage all applicants to review our LEAD Application Resource for troubleshooting and support during the application process.

Have questions about Aspiring Teacher Leader LEAD? Email [email protected].