One-quarter of Iowa’s school teachers will be instructional coaches or mentors to other teachers in their district during the next school year. All 333 Iowa school districts will be splitting 150-million dollars in additional state funding for this teacher leadership initiative. Mike Sherwood, superintendent of the Webster City and Northeast Hamilton School Districts, says putting the focus on instruction is important.

“It is at the classroom level and directly supports the work teachers do at the classroom,” Sherwood says. “It provides another layer of support as teachers move from isolated teaching environments to collaborative environments.” Governor Branstad invited Sherwood to speak about the program Tuesday morning, during Branstad’s weekly news conference. Sherwood is using the extra state funding to pay teachers on staff extra to be mentor teachers, plus he’s hiring an expert in the latest digital technology.

“It will be somebody that will work directly with classroom teachers on integrating that directly into their lessons,” Sherwood says. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowa will have “the most extensive teacher leadership system” in the country next fall when all 333 districts are participating in the program. “With higher expectations for all students today, Iowa is better at supporting the work that teachers must do,” Reynolds says. Governor Terry Branstad says rewarding teachers who take on more responsibility will hopefully keep some teachers from leaving the profession. And Branstad says measuring student achievement is part of the process.

“We want to make sure that we’re preparing Iowa students and the future Iowa workforce for quality careers and jobs in the future,” Branstad says. Branstad convened the “Future Ready Summit” yesterday (Tuesday), in Des Moines. More than 750 teachers and administrators as well as business and labor leaders attended, to discuss ways to equip students with the right skills.

(Radio Iowa)