Project lead: Catherine Jacques
The Iowa Department of Education (IDE) is seeking to continuously improve its Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) System to attract, retain, and reward effective teachers; promote continuous improvement in Iowa’s teaching workforce; and, thereby, increase student achievement.
To support this goal, the Region 9 Comprehensive Center (R9CC) is collaborating with IDE to identify best practices across the TLC System—especially for implementation and progress monitoring—and support districts in clearly articulating TLC’s effects on teaching and learning. In 2019–20, R9CC is supporting IDE staff as they examine strengths and assess needs in areas such as data collection methods, measures of success, and teacher leader support systems. The project is engaging stakeholders to reflect on the successes and next steps for TLC and to gather more information on how TLC is affecting teaching and learning in various schools across the state.
As a result of these initial needs assessment activities, R9CC and IDE will be prepared to develop and implement a continuous improvement process and sustainability plan for the Iowa TLC System. Ultimately, the continuous improvement process aims to increase the share of districts that are mostly or fully meeting TLC annual goals, strengthen instructional practices, and improve student achievement.