Top teachers taking on leadership roles to improve instruction and raise student achievement is the centerpiece of Iowa’s landmark 2013 education reform package. New teacher leadership systems across Iowa will allow teachers to work in greater collaboration with colleagues and learn from each other instead of operating largely in isolation in their classrooms. Teacher leadership systems will be phased in over three years, with the goal of all districts participating by 2016-17, although whether to do so is a local decision.
Based on the recommendations of the 19-member Commission on Teacher Leadership and Compensation, Director Buck selected 39 school districts out of 146 applicants from across the state. The districts – serving a mix of urban, suburban and rural communities to best reflect Iowa’s district landscape – enroll about one-third of Iowa students. Two of the districts will share teacher leadership systems. Districts were selected for the first round based on the strength of their application as well as geographic and size diversity.
“We wanted to make sure that the first round of districts represented the diversity of Iowa’s school system,” Buck said. “The Commission accomplished this goal by setting a high quality bar while also ensuring that this is truly a statewide initiative.”
Teacher leadership systems promise to help students learn more by better meeting their individual needs. They also will attract and retain more effective teachers by enhancing career opportunities and paying stipends for taking on extra responsibilities. With higher expectations for students, it’s no longer realistic for one principal to provide all the instructional leadership in a school. Teacher-and-principal leadership teams can support the more complex work required to prepare students for a knowledge-based economy.
Districts that applied to start teacher leadership systems next fall were required to set a vision and goals for what they plan to accomplish. They also had to address “must-haves,” such as setting a minimum teacher salary of $33,500, improved entry into the profession, including mentoring for new teachers, and a rigorous selection process for leadership roles.
Districts selected will receive about $309 per pupil next school year to implement their teacher leadership systems. The annual cost statewide is nearly $50 million in fiscal year 2015, growing to about $150 million annually by the third year.
The next step for school districts is selecting their teacher leaders. Branstad’s fiscal 2015 budget recommendations include $4 million for the Iowa Department of Education, working with Area Education Agencies, to provide technical assistance and leadership development for the districts in the first group implementing teacher leadership systems in 2014-15.
Districts from Heartland AEA’s service area that received TLC grants are Colo-NESCO, Earlham, Gilbert, Johnston, North Polk, Norwalk, Panorama, Pella, Roland-Story, Saydel, Southeast Polk, Van Meter, West Des Moines and Winterset. The Agency is beginning to post some of these first year TLC grantee on our TLC Google Site.
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