Three school districts win grants to encourage, reward excellence
Contact:
Chalkboard Project
(503) 542-4325
info@chalkboardproject.org
Chalkboard funds CLASS Project to support educators and recognize results
PORTLAND – March 12, 2007 – The Sherwood, Tillamook and Forest Grove schools districts will become the first in Oregon to participate in a foundation-funded pilot program to expand career opportunities for teachers and other staff and reward those educators for meeting student achievement goals.
The Chalkboard Project has awarded CLASS (Creative Leadership and Student Success) Project grants to each of the three districts to develop individualized pilot programs that test the impact of greater teacher collaboration and leadership on student performance. The pilot projects will establish new leadership roles for teachers, and expand training and collaboration opportunities. Participating districts also will reward individual and/or team success for meeting school goals in improving student achievement, based on a broad set of measurements.
Each participating district will design its own program based on input from teachers, administrators, school board members, parents and other stakeholders. Chalkboard will provide from $10,000 to $30,000 per district to support this planning phase. Once design is complete, each district will receive annual implementation awards of $200 to $400 per student for multiple years.
“Oregonians have made it very clear to us that they revere teachers, and want to do more to reward great performance. But this pilot is much broader than a standard ‘pay for performance’ system,” said Sue Hildick, Chalkboard project president. “What we’re creating is an enhanced professional development, leadership and evaluation opportunity for all educators, especially teachers. We do want to reward great work that results in higher student achievement, but it’s the system we’re creating – real growth opportunities for our educators that don’t rely on the traditional salary structure – that is the most important aspect of this program.”
The CLASS Project grew out of extensive research by Chalkboard to determine new ways to support educators and increase student achievement. In-state research included outreach to groups of teachers around the state, who shared concerns about their increased workloads, growing diversity of student needs, and lack of collaboration and professional development opportunities. They were intrigued by the benefits of a pilot project that would energize staff, motivate and retain great teachers, create solid peer relationships and offer rewards for extra work.
Several states are pursuing programs to support and reward educator performance in innovative ways. In particular, Chalkboard looked to Minnesota in creating a model for the CLASS Project that offered maximum local flexibility in design and purpose.
Selected comments from representatives of the three districts selected for the pilot project:
"Participating in CLASS provides Sherwood with the opportunity for our professional staff to be rewarded for putting ‘feet’ to their curriculum delivery dreams,” said Terrel Smith, a Sherwood High School teacher and president of the Sherwood Education Association. “This grant takes the economic lid off our curriculum innovation and the result will be more effective student learning."
"The Teacher Career Ladder grant will be a great asset to Forest Grove School District and will fit in well with initiatives already in progress in our district,” said Superintendent Jack Musser.
"The Tillamook School District is dedicated to the support and continuing professional growth of our staff,” said Superintendent Randy Schild. “The CLASS Project gives us an exciting opportunity to expand some of our existing teacher leader opportunities and to explore the development of new teacher leadership models. Our district is extremely honored and excited about this selection and we believe that this positive partnership with lead to improved student results."
Several other Oregon school districts have expressed interest in the pilot project. To respond to that interest, Chalkboard expects to award a second round of CLASS Project grants in fall 2007.
About Chalkboard Project
Launched in early 2004, Chalkboard Project exists to inspire Oregonians to do what it takes to make the state’s K-12 public schools among the nation’s best, while strengthening our school system’s financial accountability to taxpayers. Chalkboard aims to help create a more informed and engaged public who understand and address the tough choices and trade-offs required to build strong schools, and to enable statewide programs that can be applied at the local level to improve school quality, accountability, and funding. To date, Chalkboard has connected with about 100,000 Oregonians, asking for their best ideas to strengthen the state’s K-12 public schools. It also has partnered with other education organizations to create the Open Book$ Web site www.openbooksproject.org to track school district spending.
Chalkboard – an initiative of Foundations For A Better Oregon – is sponsored by a growing list of independent foundations. The founding five foundations are: The Collins Foundation, The Ford Family Foundation, Jeld-Wen Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, and The Oregon Community Foundation. For more information about Chalkboard and to learn how to get involved, call (877) YOUR-K12 or visit www.chalkboardproject.org.
