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The Hawaii Teacher Standards Board is responsible for issuing licenses for teachers and maintaining licensure standards. In the past, teachers pursued a license for a particular teaching field. Recent changes by the board now expand that practice.

This year the board passed a measure that created a license for teacher leaders. In order to qualify for this license, a teacher (or counselor, librarian or registrar) must have demonstrated that she or he has fulfilled a leadership role for a minimum of four semesters within the past five years. The applicant must also have the support of a school administrator.

The board’s action in establishing this new license follows a recent national trend to recognize teachers who exercise leadership through innovation, school improvement and by creating engaging learning experiences.

Teacher leadership is not new, but this new license reminds us that teachers have the option to remain in the classroom while maintaining a direct, positive impact on student learning through leading new approaches to teaching.

Following this decision to license teacher leaders, opportunities for formal teacher leadership seem to be increasing in our state. One such example is the Hope Street Group Hawaii State Teacher Fellowship. Hope Street Group is a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose purpose is to promote education, health and jobs and the workforce.

The acknowledgement of teacher leaders is a signal to Hawaii to both recognize and appreciate the many opportunities that all public school teachers bring to Hawaii’s keiki.

Through this new teacher fellowship, Hope Street Group is seeking to empower teacher leaders from every island to engage their peers in focus groups whose purpose is to identify better ways to address Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation measures.

The goal of this work is to empower teachers to be informed and actively engaged in developing their practice to encourage student growth. Fellows use a website hosted by Hope Street Group and communicate via telephone conference to share their progress.

Another avenue for leadership in our public schools is the Teacher Leadership Initiative. This venture was established through a joint effort of the National Education Association, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the Center for Teaching Quality. The goals of this initiative are to identify competencies of teacher leadership, to help teachers develop those competencies and empower teachers as they engage in relevant leadership experiences. Teacher leaders are guided and supported by coaches, who are teacher leaders themselves.

For Hawaii’s teachers, National Board Certification has proven to be an avenue to teacher leadership. This voluntary process invites teachers to examine their work, meet the highest standards of the profession — which have been set by teachers — and reflect on how to improve their impact on student learning through their teaching practice.

Many who undertake the process call it the most significant professional development they have experienced.

Some National Board Certified Teachers look beyond improving learning opportunities for students, but also advance opportunities for other teachers.

These professionals, and many others like them across the state, understand that teacher leaders make opportunities possible that many people have said couldn’t be done.

The acknowledgement of teacher leaders is a signal to Hawaii to both recognize and appreciate the many opportunities that all public school teachers bring to the state’s keiki.

It is also a signal to Hawaii’s educators that the public understands how important the role of a teacher is, and that they support those who make it a life-long profession.

As we begin a new school year, we should celebrate the efforts of all teachers who passionately believe that true educational improvement will occur when they demonstrate leadership both within and beyond the walls of their classrooms.