STEM teacher leadership profiles: Connecting innovative teaching and leadership role enactment

Abstract

This study identified teacher leadership profiles among 229 mathematics and science teachers and examined how these profiles relate to innovative teaching and role enactment. Using k -means clustering, four distinct profiles emerged: High-Engaged Leaders ( n = 25) showed consistently high involvement, particularly in equity and shared leadership. Moderate-High Leaders ( n = 78) displayed moderately high engagement across all five teacher leadership dimensions. Developing Leaders ( n = 40) showed relatively higher engagement in professional growth and collaboration but lower engagement in professional development leadership. Low-Engaged Leaders ( n = 86), the largest cluster, reported the lowest engagement across all dimensions. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed significant cluster effects for innovative teaching, F (3, 216) = 9.65, P < .001, η 2 = .12. Negative binomial regression showed significant differences in role enactment, χ 2 (3) = 23.53, P < .001, with High-Engaged Leaders emphasizing mentoring and administrative roles. Findings reveal the layered nature of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teacher leadership and suggest the need for targeted support.