Experts Down the Hall

“Alabama school district teacher leaders guide and support their schools through new initiatives. At a Glance Talladega County Schools in Alabama has identified teacher leaders known as Experts Down the Hall who help lead innovation across the district. One teacher leader from each school is invited to join with teacher leaders from other schools for professional development related to an innovative classroom practice. As part of a two-year program, these Experts Down the Hall receive training and plan professional development for colleagues at their school. After more than 10 years, the program has successfully spread innovative practices and helped develop leaders within the district. District leaders know that for any innovative instructional vision to work, teachers need to be knowledgeable about and invested in the innovation. Tapping into teacher leaders is an important move districts can make to ensure that their instructional vision translates into strong classroom practices. Talladega County Schools has developed a program called Experts Down the Hall that identifies, supports, and energizes teacher leaders to guide their schools through new district initiatives. Talladega County Schools: A snapshot Talladega is situated at the southern end of the Appalachian mountain range and is known outside the area as the home of the Talladega Speedway. Located about two hours east of Birmingham, Alabama, Talladega County is a very rural area with a population of under 90,000 people. Many residents have lived in the area all their lives, which creates a strong community with many ties between the school district, local businesses and organizations, and families. The school district often hires teachers who are Talladega alumni, and local businesses support the schools with grants and internships. Talladega serves roughly 7,000 students in 16 schools across seven distinct communities. Families in the district experience poverty at a rate higher than the state average, with 70-75% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. While a clear vision for instructional excellence from district leaders is central to Talladega’s evolution, the Experts Down the Hall have been paramount to the successful enactment of this vision. Compared to districts with similar socioeconomic levels, Talladega’s state rating — based on achievement, growth, graduation rate, and college and career readiness — continues to improve. Talladega’s holistic approach to student learning focuses on developing the skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessary for post-high school success. These attributes, which aren’t always reflected in standardized test scores, are on display through the way students carry on conversations and present themselves. Visitors to any school and classroom are guaranteed to be greeted by a student who can easily articulate what their class is working on and their learning objective. In all their work, they are guided by the vision that “Every student in Talladega County Schools will be a productive citizen, prepared for their unique future.” How has Talladega created such a strong and consistent instructional vision? In 2008, the district began a series of initiatives that have made it a model of classroom innovation, starting with deploying one of the first one-to-one device programs in Alabama, alongside districtwide implementation of project-based learning (PBL). From there, the initiative evolved to focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) and computational thinking. While a clear vision for instructional excellence from district leaders is central to Talladega’s evolution, the Experts Down the Hall have been paramount to the successful enactment of this vision. These teacher leaders provide a mechanism for the spread and sustainability of innovation in Talladega. As a result of their work, PBL and technology-driven instruction are now the standard expectation in every classroom. Program origins: A commitment to teacher support As they began implementing their new model of classroom innovation, Talladega recognized that they needed more layers of support for teachers. For change to stick, district leaders knew not to ask teachers to do anything without providing support and collaboration. Leaders committed to teaching and planning alongside teachers, and, most importantly, to enabling new teachers to observe the best and brightest teachers. This focus on ensuring that every initiative comes with adequate assistance for classroom teachers led to the development of the Experts Down the Hall. The goal was to elevate educators who were passionate about instructional technology to support other teachers in their innovative uses of technology. Initially, Experts Down the Hall participants were selected for their technical prowess. However, the program quickly evolved to prioritize those who were pushing pedagogical boundaries. While their experience with technology and STEAM varies, educators who are selected to be Experts Down the Hall have a track record of demonstrating leadership, communication and presentation skills, and growth potential, while also commanding respect in their buildings as great classroom teachers. Program design: Professional growth and celebration Talladega has made the Experts Down the Hall program successful by: Finding the right people. Giving them support. Celebrating their accomplishments. Teachers are invited to become Experts Down the Hall based on principal and technology coach recommendations. One teacher from each school is recommended to serve a two-year term, and selection is seen as a high honor. The program design includes three full-day professional learning sessions for the Experts Down the Hall during the school year. These sessions provide hands-on experience with new digital technology tools, associated pedagogical approaches, and the necessary supports to effectively train their peers. They also learn about current district initiatives and participate in building districtwide tools, resources, and materials. District leaders intentionally set aside time during each session for the Experts Down the Hall to reflect on and process the new information. They plan how they will model classroom integration of the current district initiative for their peers back in their schools and how to share what they learn with their school’s staff. Talladega found that this planning time is critical. As Experts Down the Hall plan their professional development sessions, district leaders are available to offer support. It’s also common for Experts Down the Hall from multiple schools to support one another by planning their PD together. These essential full-day sessions ensure that Experts Down the Hall can easily implement high-quality PD for staff in their schools, creating coherence across the district. District leaders also provide ongoing support for the Experts Down the Hall between sessions. The Experts Down the Hall program has had significant impacts on district initiatives participating teachers, and capacity-building systemwide. Talladega district leaders also intentionally celebrate the hard work of the Experts Down the Hall. For example, Talladega’s annual STEMposium — a daylong, districtwide professional learning day — is a big celebration of the STEAM initiative and a culmination of the work the Experts Down the Hall, teachers, and students have done throughout the year. The district recruits national leaders in STEM education to provide an inspirational keynote address and host breakout sessions throughout the day. Experts Down the Hall can also bring a group of their students to the event and present their projects and accomplishments. By positioning the Experts Down the Hall alongside national STEM leaders, the district elevates their expertise and continues to support them as the leaders of change in Talladega. District leaders also regularly visit Experts Down the Hall classrooms to see STEAM innovations in action. By visiting the classrooms, district leaders demonstrate that what these teachers are doing is special, important, and worth sharing with other teachers. Even these expert teachers need to hear from building and district leaders that their work is high quality. Program impact: A unified instructional approach The Experts Down the Hall program has had significant impacts on district initiatives, participating teachers, and capacity-building systemwide. Talladega’s PBL, STEAM, and computational thinking initiatives, made possible by the Experts Down the Hall, have established a unified instructional approach across the district. The district was able to implement new initiatives quickly because of the Experts Down the Hall they selected to lead the work in their schools. Now, district leaders can walk into a classroom and see evidence of PBL, STEAM, the engineering design process, and computational thinking. Innovations supported by the Experts Down the Hall spread like wildfire, because when teachers see one of these leaders having so much fun in their classroom, they want to learn more. All 16 schools in Talladega have earned STEM certification from Cognia — making Talladega the largest district in Alabama to achieve this distinction across all schools. The Experts Down the Hall play a key role in maintaining the evidence needed for recertification. Almost a decade in, the Experts Down the Hall program has reached stability and sustainability. The program has built up levels of support and capacity centered on teacher leaders across the district. The two-year cohort structure allows for long-term, ongoing professional learning and relationship building. In turn, this allows the Experts Down the Hall to feel confident with progress in their buildings. Leadership development: Building a candidate pool from within Experts Down the Hall are not currently compensated for their leadership role, but participation gives them a prestigious addition to their résumé while helping them develop as leaders within the district. They are often able to attend state and national conferences for additional professional learning and capacity-building. While the Experts Down the Hall program demonstrates how teachers can lead other teachers from the classroom, the role also has become a training ground for technology coaches and building administrators. Being in the program gives teachers experience that helps them determine whether they want to pursue these leadership roles. District leaders have no doubt that their innovative initiatives will continue for years to come because Experts Down the Hall are experiencing innovation as they move through different roles within the district. Rural districts often recruit teachers and administrators from their own communities. Therefore, if the district is going to have good leaders, they have to build them. The program has enabled Talladega to grow their own leaders and build a pool of coaching and administrative candidates who demonstrate a spirit of innovation. Since 2016, 58% of Experts Down the Hall have become coaches, building administrators, and district leaders in Talladega. District leaders have no doubt that their innovative initiatives will continue for years to come because Experts Down the Hall are experiencing innovation as they move through different roles within the district. They can implement the district’s vision for quality STEAM learning at any level they choose, from teacher leaders to district administrators. Sustained innovation: Scaling and replicating the model Experts Down the Hall has proven to be a valuable strategy for scaling innovations within Talladega. As a mid-size district, having one Expert Down the Hall in each school is manageable, ensures every school is represented, and allows for collaboration and consistency across initiatives. By design, the program ensures that all students have access to innovative and powerful learning experiences and can benefit from district initiatives aimed at improving instruction. While Talladega is a unique district with strong leaders guiding the work, other districts can adapt this program to their own contexts. Every school has teachers who are natural leaders and early adopters of innovations. By creating a position with internal prestige that gives teacher leaders the time, space, and knowledge to support new initiatives, districts can spread these initiatives without significant expenditure or burden on district leaders. As the experts in what it looks like to bring innovation to the classroom, teacher leaders can be empowered to bring innovation to all of education. Note : This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2219350. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This article appears in the Summer 2026 issue of Kappan, Vol. 107, No. 7-8. The post Experts Down the Hall appeared first on Kappan Online .

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