Teachers report success in leadership program, but student achievement dips

DES MOINES - Teachers in Iowa schools that participate in the state's teacher mentoring program report better resources for helping teachers, more effective leadership and more collaboration, according to a report issued Tuesday.

However, student achievement in schools that employ the program dipped slightly in the one year of data available for the study.

Commissioned by the state, the research report on Iowa's Teacher Leadership and Compensation program was published by American Institutes for Research, a Washington, D.C.-based social science research organization.

'This interim report shows we're heading in the right direction, but at the same time, we have a lot of work ahead,” Iowa education department director Ryan Wise said on a conference call with reporters.

The Teacher Leadership and Compensation program was included in sweeping education legislation passed in 2013. It was implemented over three years, including the current school year.

Under the program, top teachers enter compensated leadership positions in which they mentor younger, inexperienced or struggling teachers.

Compared with schools that do not employ the program, the report suggests teachers in schools that do employ the program think their school provides better resources and supports for teachers; have a greater familiarity with and higher opinion of teacher leadership roles; and report more collaboration among teachers. Teachers also said the program has had a positive impact on teaching instruction.

'Overall, the teacher leadership system has been very beneficial to Nevada and the students of Iowa,” said Kevin Erickson, a special-education teacher in the Nevada Community School District, one of three educators who participated in the conference call.

The report also showed, however, that in the 2014-15 school year, the only in which the data was available for the study, students at schools that employed the teacher leadership program improved at a rate slightly slower than students at schools without the program, by roughly 1 to 2 points on Iowa assessments that span 200 points, according to the report.

'The difference is small, but statistically significant,” the report says.

Wise said one year of data is not sufficient to draw broad conclusions about the program's impact on student achievement, and he thinks student achievement will improve as the program grows.

'A common criticism of the teacher leadership program is that it takes the best teachers out of the classroom.

Wise and others on the conference call Tuesday said the program allows top teachers to spread their influence over more students than just a single classroom.

'It's allowed us to use our strong leaders in education in new and better ways to reach even further than they were able prior to the development of this system,” said Paul Gausman, superintendent for the Sioux City Community School District.

Wise said the study cost $285,000 and was paid for by state funds designated specifically for program implementation. He said the state has contracted with American Institutes for Research for up to three years, and he hopes to commission more reports on the program's implementation and success.