Central Iowa school getting ‘positive vibes’ from teacher leadership changes

PLEASANT HILL - Teachers and administrators at Southeast Polk School District told Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday a $2.2 million state grant for teacher leadership has been the 'jet fuel” to propel collaboration, mentoring, and innovation that is translating into better student performance and educational outcomes.

'It's been a change of culture for us in a good way,” said Michael Dailey, principal of the junior high school when Branstad met with district officials who are part of the first wave of schools participating in Iowa's new Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) System.

The TLC system - part of the 2013 education reforms - was launched with 39 school districts that enroll about one-third of Iowa's students using $50 million in state funds. Another 76 districts - representing another third of Iowa student enrollment - will join the program next school year, and all 338 school districts in Iowa will have the option of joining the TLC system by the 2016-2017 school year.

When fully phased in, the program will cost about $150 million annually, and much of the funding will be used to increase teacher leaders' salaries and attract more individuals to the teaching profession by offering more competitive starting salaries.

'This is not an experiment,” Branstad told a roundtable discussion with school administrators, teachers and staff in a former orchestra room now being used for Science, Math, Engineering and Technology (STEM) education efforts. 'It is permanent and something we think will make a difference in transforming education.”

Joseph Horton, an associate superintendent, said the new collaborative approach done in conjunction with the local teachers' union has caused 'old walls to come down” and transformed the education process to the point where it was hard for participants to recall the 'old workarounds” employed before the switch was made to incorporate core standards, teaching skills and mentor/coaching relationships into the classroom setting.

'Through being in class with the instructional coaches, you can definitely feel the positive vibe that they have with the new teachers and it's always great to see the new teachers get really excited about being there and being in class,” said Maddy Sheets, the student council president at Southeast Polk High School, 'because sometimes class can get boring.”

Ryan Wise, the Iowa Department of Education deputy director Ryan Wise who oversees the TLC system for the state, said other school participants in the first round of state grants also are reporting 'a really good vibe” from what he called the most comprehensive teacher leadership system in the country that is 're-energizing” educators.

'It's one thing to have a plan on paper and it's quite another to put that plan into practice,” he said.

Craig Menozzi, Southeast Polk superintendent of schools, said his district has nearly 500 teachers, with nearly one-fourth engaged in some type of leadership role as a model teacher, instructional coach or curriculum leader. He said the extra $2.2 million in state grant money for teacher improvement program enabled the district to hire 20 new teachers and to compensate for designating some teachers as coaches who travel from classroom to classroom.

Menozzi said the current stalemate at the Statehouse over state aid to schools for the next fiscal year has caused some uncertainty, forcing his school board to pass a new budget assuming no new state money and making contingency plans to cut about $600,000 via reductions in instructional supplies, finding energy savings and putting off curriculum material upgrades to avoid having to lay off any teachers.

'I think there's an area of concern that we need state supplemental aid to keep the district moving forward,” he said.