A team of Greene County school administrators and teachers are preparing an application to the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) to be among the first schools to participate in the new Teacher Leadership and Compensation System.
According to the DOE, the overriding philosophy of the system is that improving student learning requires improving the instruction they receive, and the best way to do that is to empower the best teachers in each district to lead the effort. The Teacher Leadership and Compensation System provides effective teachers with leadership opportunities and higher pay, attracts new teachers with competitive starting salaries and more support, and fosters greater collaboration among teachers, according to the DOE.
Superintendent Tim Christensen briefed the Greene County board about work on the application at the its meeting last month. He said that every district in the state has applied for planning grants for the program; the J-S and East Greene districts together have $14,000 to use in planning. The program is being phased in statewide over three years, with one-third of the districts receiving funds for 2014-15, one third in 2015-16, and one third in 2016-17. The Greene County district wants to be in the first round of funding.
The program will bring teacher salaries up to a minimum of $33,500. Christensen said teacher salaries are already at that point; no new state funds would be used to meet that plank of the program. The money available to each district is based on enrollment. The Greene County district stands to receive about $400,000 each year. Christensen said that at this time, the legislature intends continuing support of $150,000 million per year. He did admit to some reservations about sustainability of the program long term. Even so, he said the program “has a wonderful opportunity to be successful.”
Christensen explained there are three roles for teacher leaders in the system. “Model teachers” welcome other teachers into their classroom to observe them teaching, with a goal of modeling good teaching practices. “Mentor teachers” teach about three-fourths of their time in their own classroom and spend the remaining one-fourth working with, or coaching other teachers. “Master teachers” do not have their own classrooms, but spend their time working with other teachers.
Reading specialist Julie Neal explained, “It’s teaching teachers how to do effective instruction. It doesn’t matter if an elementary teacher goes out to the high school, it’s the instruction you’re looking at.”
Neal said the Greene County schools already have in place some of the elements the DOE is looking for in implementing the system. Teachers work collaboratively to track student growth and achievement, and the professional development already being done is a key piece of the system.
Participating in the system requires that at least 25 percent of the district’s teachers are involved in some type of leadership role. The state funds are used for compensation for additional time worked, and to hire teachers to replace those leaving the classroom for leadership roles. Christensen said teachers would go through an application process to be selected as model, mentor or master teachers. “Taking our best teachers out of the classroom is a challenge, it’s a struggle,” Christensen said.
Board member Mark Peters pointed out that teachers who are hired to fill the classroom posts of the leader teachers must be told that if the funding for the system is discontinued, the leader teachers will return to their classrooms, possibly eliminating jobs for the newer hires. It’s possible teachers would serve in the leadership spots for a year and then want to return to their classrooms, again requiring flexibility with the new hires.
“It’s hard to swallow,” board member David Ohrt said about taking teachers out of their classrooms, “but I think if somebody’s a really good teacher, they can magnify what they’re doing by teaching other teachers.”
Christensen said a good teacher can have an impact on 22 students in a classroom or on 222 students as a teacher in a leadership role.
The grant application is due the end of January. Not all Iowa districts are applying, Christensen said. “We talked about not applying, but I think it’s a great opportunity for teaching and learning. Why would we want to put it off a year or two years if we’ve got the opportunity to access funds now?”
