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EDUCATION Eagle Point grant focuses on boosting teachers District officials are considering performance-based pay among other things By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> The Eagle Point School District, bolstered by a state grant, hopes to provide its teachers with more professional development and leadership opportunities, as well as an innovative new salary schedule. The district secured a $30,000 design grant in 2013 to research new ways to approach professional development, career pathways, evaluation processes and compensation models, and on Tuesday it was awarded a School District Collaboration Implementation Grant for nearly $400,000 to begin carrying out best practices in those areas. The grant is renewable for the next two years. However, the funding amount for future years has not been set, said Oregon Department of Education spokeswoman Crystal Greene. “The overall scope of the grant is educator effectiveness,” said Jodi Salinas, assistant principal of Table Rock Elementary School, director of the district’s new dual immersion preschool, Academia Aguilitas, and project director of the design grant. “There is a direct correlation between educator effectiveness and student achievement.” With the grant, the district hopes to utilize the expertise of exemplary teachers by creating specialized roles, such as a technology integration coach, professional learning coach and new teacher mentors, and by establishing "studio classrooms" at each school where teachers can observe best practices in play. “If we improve ourselves, then we improve student performance,” said Superintendent Cynda Rickert, adding that teachers with more career options are also more likely to stick around.  The grant also will buy the district time, said Rickert. Time for teachers to access professional development opportunities around new initiatives. Time for the district to solidify and educate employees on its new evaluation processes, which are aligned with the performance standards outlined in Senate Bill 290. And time to develop an alternative salary schedule with the Eagle Point Education Association. “That’s probably the scariest one for everybody,” Rickert said. “We have created a draft plan, and there’s a lot of anxiety around that because there’s been such a traditional compensation model in place for so many years.” One idea would be to pilot a performance-based salary schedule next fall on new teachers and veteran teachers who opt in, Salinas said. Whatever the model, it will have to pass muster with the union, Rickert said. “The biggest barrier is that people who've been in the system a long time have a mindset that if I put in a year and I’m still here then I move on to the next step,” Rickert said. “It’s not like the private sector where you earn your next step. But if you’re rated as a strong teacher based on established criteria, then why shouldn’t you be rewarded for that?” Carroll Newcomb, president of the Eagle Point Education Association, a family and consumer science teacher at Eagle Point High School and a member of the grant team, said the union bargaining counsel has not approved performance-based pay. “At this point, the most palatable word is ‘stipend’ based on career pathways,” she said. “It’s imperative that the stipends for career pathways be distributed in such a way that compensation could change but nobody’s base salary would change." Newcomb said the grant team, which is made up of administrators, union representatives and teachers with a variety of specialties, has been a positive collaborative experience. “I’m also thrilled that the grant will provide stipends for career pathways because a lot of people who don’t want to be a principal, they have so many talents that they should be a teacher leader … and get paid for that,” she said. The teachers in these new roles would work 10 extra days a year and be paid for that time, Salinas said. The district will begin hiring for some positions, including a grant manager, immediately and begin writing the job descriptions for other career pathways that would begin next fall. "We’ve had so many cuts over the years with the downfall of the economy that it's exciting to be building back professional development for teachers, and this grant will make that possible more quickly," Salinas said. Reach education reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt . By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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