But are they good teachers? examining who takes up teacher leadership and how their instruction differs from their peers

ABSTRACT Teacher leaders function in many roles in supporting school success including instructional leadership and supporting colleagues. This study draws upon the Status of the Social Studies Survey (Fitchett, P. G., and P. J. Vanfossen. 2013. ‘Survey on the Status of Social Studies: Development and Analysis.’ Social Studies Research and Practice 8 (1): 1–23.) to examine the responses of 6,702 US-based middle and high school social studies teachers to understand the antecedents of teacher leadership and the instructional practices of these individuals compared to their peers. Survey responses indicate that the vast majority of social studies teachers report participating in some aspect of teacher leadership. Teacher leaders tend to be less experienced and have less educational attainment while employing more research-based instructional techniques.