Teacher Leadership and Partnership at Challenge Early College High School

Ask Josh Silberman, a teacher at Challenge Early College High School in Houston ISD, what he loves most about teaching you’ll get a variety of answers – among them, the chance to lead in the school.  Currently, Josh and his colleague Paul Cross are working on a new reform project sponsored by Houston A+ Challenge that partners Challenge with Quest High School in Humble ISD.  It’s a natural partnership.  Quest, a small school that features a senior exhibition project, is planning to become an early college; and Challenge, a small early college, is looking to make the senior year more meaningful.  Furthermore, Challenge has a history of teachers in leadership roles advancing the school’s mission, and Quest has a similar tradition of cultivating leaders from the inside.  In fact, Principal Kim Klepcyk was formerly a teacher at Quest.

For A+, the partnership provides an opportunity to examine how schools can learn from each other through replication and demonstration.  On February 26, a busload of Quest High School students, faculty, and administrators visited Challenge Early College High School for a day of learning and sharing organized by Silberman and Cross.  The two spearheaded an agenda packed with student-led activities and classroom visits.  What’s more, while administrators from both campuses worked through district-level details, teacher leaders Ty James and Christopher Phlegar from Quest collaborated with Silberman and Cross to further develop the implementation steps for each campus.

The efforts of teacher leaders are having a significant influence on both campuses.  The widespread changes in practice that these two schools are attempting are dependent on the work of campus leadership that extends from and beyond the classroom.  When campuses realize how to use and value teachers for the many and varied talents they offer in and beyond a campus, meaningful and creative work such as this occurs.