Jamestown City School District

STLE Cohort

STLE 3 (March 3, 2014 – June 30, 2015)

Total STLE Award

$623,067

STLE Profile

Profile for Jamestown CSD

District Links

Student and Staff Snaphot

State-Approved APPR Plan

District Website

Contact for More Information

STLE Program Summary Local Education Agencies(LEAs) and local unions collaborated to develop programs that focus on various elements of a strategically planned Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (TLE) Continuum, including preparation, recruitment and placement, induction and mentoring, evaluation, ongoing professional development/professional growth, performance management and career ladder pathways.

This graphic represents the Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (TLE) continuum recommended by the New York State Education Department.

Program Summary

In developing their career ladder pathways model through the STLE 3 grant, Jamestown recognized that many teachers and leaders in the district had been challenged to fully understand and adjust to the significant scope of change reflected in the Regents Reform Agenda. In order to support the alignment of higher quality teaching and evidence-based instructional practices to more rigorous college and career ready standards and curricula, Jamestown envisioned career ladder pathways in which their highest performing teachers and leaders would develop specific expertise in one of the three key elements of school improvement: college and career ready standards and curriculum, evidence-based instruction, and effective instructional practices. By developing the expertise of Teacher and Principal Leaders and fostering leadership through collaboration, they anticipated that their highest performing teachers would further develop their own capacity while supporting their colleagues to do the same.

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Prior to the STLE 3 grant, the district’s efforts to elevate teachers to a role of peer leadership were informal and primarily focused on assigning mentors to novice teachers. This is still an element of Jamestown’s career ladder pathways, however, using STLE 3 grant funds, the district seeks to develop a more comprehensive system of job-embedded professional development, wherein all educators in the system receive the support they need to strengthen their content knowledge and pedagogical skills. As a result, they expect to increase the likelihood that every child benefits from high quality teaching and learning to support their academic success.

Jamestown began to implement career ladder pathways in the 2014-15 academic school year that reflect their vision to have teacher leaders in every school. They district found a gap between this vision and the reality of their current capacity and systemic readiness for teacher leadership. While many educators in the district meet the selection criteria for a teacher leader role, few educators possess the confidence in their ability or capacity to serve as a peer leader. Several applicants acknowledged or indicated that they are still learning about the new standards and curriculum, do not yet have a solid grasp on the essential elements of a systemic response to intervention program, or are concerned about having the time or confidence to take on additional responsibilities for coaching their peers, while maintaining a full-time teaching load. As a result, Jamestown experienced fewer applicants than anticipated for career ladder pathways positions.

In response to this challenge, Jamestown adjusted their career ladder pathways model to include two Instructional Coaches, full-release teachers, that will provide comprehensive coaching and support to teachers in kindergarten through grade six. Additionally, they selected Peer Coaches, full-time practicing teachers, in all elementary schools to provide similar coaching and support to colleagues within the building. Both district-level and school-level teacher leaders support all elements of their improvement goals, including curriculum and instruction aligned with the college and career ready standards, driven by data to inform and improve student learning. In addition, the district continuously recruits and develops Mentor Teachers to provide coaching and feedback to teachers new to the profession or those developing their practice. On the principal career ladder pathway, Principal Mentors provide individual and small-group support to novice and experienced principals. The district is currently recruiting Principal Coaches that will provide leadership and support to other principals seeking to strengthen their instructional leadership skills as well as create a video library for principals across the district. Jamestown is committed to drawing upon and developing the capacity of their current leaders while continuing to recruit and develop others to share their talent and expertise.

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Promising Practice

Involved a multitude of stakeholders to ensure effective communication and that the strategic direction is aligned with community and district values.
Reallocated resources as necessary to sustainably fund implementation of career ladder pathways.
Collaborated with teacher and principal associations to define teacher and principal leader roles and responsibilities, as well as selection criteria and processes.
Developed a robust set of professional development offerings for teachers and principal leaders that will serve as a strong foundation for the work to be accomplished.

Sustainability

The Jamestown City School District has used Strengthening Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (STLE) grants to fund the development and implementation of its career ladder pathways. The district is committed to sustaining all grant funded activities, including career ladder pathways, beyond the grant term. The district budget has substantially increased professional development for 2014-15, with plans in place to sustain this increase in future years. The district is also evaluating vacant positions to determine whether these may be reassigned as full-release teacher leader positions to support and sustain program goals in future years.

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STLE Areas of Focus and Impact Each Local Educational Agency (LEA) has identified measurable goals and outcomes aligned with their grant programs. Quantitative and qualitative data is meant to communicate the value and impact of this work by highlighting the reach of teacher and principal leaders, cost and time savings, as well as indicate the progress made towards the specific student achievement and talent management needs identified by each LEA. Program evaluation is ongoing; LEAs will continue to monitor impact through and beyond the grant period to better understand correlations between various district and building initiatives, the work of teacher and principal leaders, and the impact on student access and achievement.

This graphic represents the five common talent management challenges. LEAs may address one or more of the five common talent management challenges of preparing, recruiting, developing, retaining and providing equitable access to the most effective educators using career ladder pathways.

Reach

10 Mentor Teachers directly and indirectly impact 150 teachers which impact 3,000 students
10 Teacher Leaders (Peer Coaches and Instructional Coaches) directly and indirectly impact 150 teachers which impact 3,000 students
1 Principal Mentor directly impacts 80 teachers which impact 1,600 students

Areas of Focus

The Jamestown City School District set out to address the common talent management challenges of developing, retaining, and providing equitable access to the most effective educators through their career ladder pathway model.

Common Talent Management Challenges

Common Talent Management Challenge	Local Educational Agency (LEA) Efforts
Development	Teacher Leaders provide individualized and small group support to teachers. They have also collaborated and engaged with building and district administrators to support professional learning for all instructional staff. The Mentor Teachers, Peer Coaches and Instructional Coaches all work with faculty providing assistance in developing sound pedagogical skills. Instructional Coaches and Peer Coaches facilitated after-school workshops for colleagues on topics such as Teachscape Learn and Danielson’s Framework for Teaching. The Principal Coach provides leadership and support to other principals seeking to strengthen their instructional leadership skills and has captured their own practice on video to create a video library for professional growth among current and prospective principals. Summer Leadership Retreat was held to prepare individuals for their career ladder roles as well as initial and ongoing workshops focused on providing learning focused feedback, enactment of curriculum aligned to college and career ready standards, and analysis of student learning data. Four teacher leaders, three professional teachers, and four administrators attended varying NYSED Network Team Institutes for support in implementation of college and career ready aligned curriculum.
Retention	The Jamestown City School District has identified and supported highly effective educators and distributed their talent across content areas and grade levels in ongoing efforts to retain the absolute best teachers and principals for its students. Jamestown created a structure involving Instructional Coaches, Peer Coaches, Mentor Teachers, Principal Mentors and Principal Coaches (e.g., $3,000 stipend for Peer Coaches, $1,000 stipend for Principal Mentors). As the district moves forward, career ladder pathways will be seen as a direct support to the district’s vision and strategic plan, since the two are intertwined. With more hands available to support the work of leadership and learning, Jamestown hopes to lessen the demands on any one individual to allow the entire system to grow as a result of collaboration and shared leadership.
Equitable Access	Jamestown began to implement career ladder pathways in the 2014-15 academic school year that reflect their vision to have teacher leaders in every school. Jamestown is committed to drawing upon and developing the capacity of their current leaders while continuing to recruit and develop others to share their talent and expertise. The district continuously develops Mentor Teachers to provide coaching and feedback to teachers new to the profession or those developing their practice to extend their reach beyond their classrooms. On the principal career ladder pathway, Principal Mentors provide individual and small-group support to novice and experienced principals. Teacher Leaders also provide individualized and small group support to teachers. They have also collaborated and engaged with building and district administrators to support professional learning for all instructional staff. Through this model, Jamestown hopes to create a high-performing district culture of shared leadership, wherein teachers and leaders work collaboratively to continuously improve educator effectiveness and high levels of learning for all students and staff.

Other Areas of Focus

Other Areas of Focus	Local Educational Agency (LEA) Efforts

Areas of Impact

The Jamestown City School District has identified quantitative and qualitative impact data that it has seen and hopes to realize since implementing career ladder pathways and related STLE grant activities.

Areas of Impact

Initial Student Impact

On benchmark assessments of early literacy skills in grades K-2, grade level fluency has increased by 8% from the beginning to middle of the 2014-15 school year.
On benchmark assessments of reading comprehension in grades 3-6, the percentage of students reading within the College and Career Readiness Lexile range, has increased by 6% from the beginning to middle of the 2014-15 school year.
48% of students met their grade level growth projection from the beginning to middle of the 2014-15 school year on benchmark assessments of mathematics skills in grades 3-8.

Early Impact on Talent Management System

12 teachers were identified during the 2014-15 school year to receive mentoring from a Professional Mentor Teacher. These teachers were paired with Mentors based on strengths, weakness, grade, and content area.
150 teachers received individual, small group, or large group coaching from the K-8 Instructional Coaches and Peer coaches during fall 2014.
During the 2014-15 school year, 12 teachers and 1 principal fulfilled newly developed career ladder pathway roles. Prior to the STLE 3 grant, formal career ladder pathways were not in place within the district.

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Career Ladder Pathways Each LEA participating in STLE 2 or 3 was required to develop and implement or enhance career ladder pathways rooted in sound implementation of their evaluation systems. Career ladder pathways were based on a minimum of three “rungs” including: novice, professional, and leader levels that were associated with specific roles, responsibilities, and optional district-defined compensation incentives.

Career ladder pathways are a systematic, coordinated approach to provide new and sustained leadership opportunities with additional compensation, recognition, and/or job embedded professional development for teachers and principals in order to advance excellent teaching and learning.

Teacher Career Ladder Pathway

Teacher Title	Roles and Reponsibilities	Compensation	Number Serving in Role in 2014-15
Novice Teacher	Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Teacher Association Contract.	N/A
Professional Teacher	Mentor Teacher: Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Teacher Association Contract. Assist individual probationary and teachers in need of formative assistance in developing sound pedagogical skills. Provide individual coaching of novice or experienced teachers. Conduct non-evaluative lesson observations with verbal and written feedback, using video observation where available.	$500 stipend	10
Teacher Leader	Peer Coach: Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Teacher Association Contract Provide leadership and support to individuals and small groups seeking to strengthen their pedagogical skills, align curriculum to college and career ready standards, and use data to improve student learning outcomes. Instructional Coach: Full-release Teachers on Special Assignment who provide individual and school-wide support for colleagues working to improve their practice; addressing 3 key priorities: lesson observation and feedback aligned to the Framework for Teaching and Common Core practice guides, planning and instructional practices alignment to college and career ready standards for English Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics, as well as use evidence of student performance to plan effective and strategic interventions to improve student learning. Extend the reach of building-level peer coaches by providing additional building support as needed.	Peer Coach: $3,000 stipend; Instructional Coach: FTE	Peer Coach: 8; Instructional Coach: 2

Teacher Title

Roles and Reponsibilities

Compensation

Number Serving in Role in 2014-15

Novice Teacher

Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Teacher Association Contract.

N/A

Professional Teacher

Mentor Teacher:

Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Teacher Association Contract.
Assist individual probationary and teachers in need of formative assistance in developing sound pedagogical skills.
Provide individual coaching of novice or experienced teachers.
Conduct non-evaluative lesson observations with verbal and written feedback, using video observation where available.

$500 stipend

Teacher Leader

Peer Coach:

Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Teacher Association Contract
Provide leadership and support to individuals and small groups seeking to strengthen their pedagogical skills, align curriculum to college and career ready standards, and use data to improve student learning outcomes.

Instructional Coach:

Full-release Teachers on Special Assignment who provide individual and school-wide support for colleagues working to improve their practice; addressing 3 key priorities: lesson observation and feedback aligned to the Framework for Teaching and Common Core practice guides, planning and instructional practices alignment to college and career ready standards for English Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics, as well as use evidence of student performance to plan effective and strategic interventions to improve student learning.
Extend the reach of building-level peer coaches by providing additional building support as needed.

Peer Coach: $3,000 stipend; Instructional Coach: FTE

Peer Coach: 8; Instructional Coach: 2

Principal Career Ladder Pathway

Principal Title	Roles and Reponsibilities	Compensation	Number Serving in Role in 2014-15
Novice Principal	Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Principal Association Contract.	N/A
Professional Principal	Principal Mentor: Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Principal Association Contract. Assist individual probationary and principals in need of formative assistance in developing sound pedagogical skills. Provide individual and small group support to novice or experienced building leaders related: to creating a shared mission, vision, values and goals; administrative responsibilities; curriculum and instruction; use of data to improve student learning; and family and community engagement.	$1,000 stipend	1
Principal Leader	Principal Coach: Fulfill all professional responsibilities per Jamestown Principal Association Contract. Provide leadership and support to other principals seeking to strengthen their instructional leadership skills. Facilitate planning meetings, focused on goal setting, action planning, and time management strategies. Conduct school visitations for observation of principal practice, with feedback and debriefing. Capture his/her own practice on video capture to create a video library for professional growth among current and prospective principals.	TBD	0

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Sharing the Work The Strengthening Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (STLE) grant has resulted in the development and sharing of a wide variety of tools, tips, and resources. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) have been highlighted for their work through various media outlets and NYSED videos, and have also created tools and resources that are available to the field.

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New York State Education Department