The first-graders weren’t the only ones learning in this classroom at Pittsburgh Woolslair PreK-5 in Bloomfield.
The 11 children were learning how to recognize groups of five, and six visiting veteran teachers were learning more about teaching math.
The six are among the 54 teachers at 36 schools who are Instructional Leader Teacher 2s, the most widespread of the district’s career ladder teaching positions that provide extra pay and responsibilities for teachers. The list is expected to expand to 71 teachers in 42 schools this fall.
The teachers, who can be found at all grade levels, receive deep training in math or English language arts and are paid an added $11,300 a year for their extra time and duties.
The fall additions will include teachers in science or social studies.
Now in their third year in the role, the teachers were chosen for the position because they are good teachers but they still are learning how to be better and how to help other teachers excel as well.
Although the details of their role vary by the needs in a building, they all work a longer school day and longer school year. The teacher leaders provide observation feedback and support to teachers throughout a school, with about 300 teachers directly supported by these teacher leaders.
They teach students fewer periods in a day and spend the remainder of the day working with other teachers, helping them develop lesson plans, teaching side by side, modeling good teacher practices and providing feedback.
Although they are trained to evaluate on the district’s standards, a teacher’s final formal evaluation is done by the principal.
The district long has had the instructional teacher leaders — without the “2” — and still has about 150 of them. They have more limited duties and receive less additional pay.
Five times a year, Teacher Leaders 2 meet in small groups at different schools for “instructional rounds” with a coach to talk about ways they can become better teachers and ways to help other teachers with their practice. They also meet monthly and receive one-on-one support at their schools.
On recent instructional rounds, the six who sat in the Woolslair classroom watched a lesson taught by Kim Dennis, a coach from the Center for Educational Leadership.
They were joined by Rosy Reed, the district’s coordinator for instructional effectiveness.
Before the lesson, Ms. Dennis and the teachers talked about what she was going to do. They discussed looking at the lesson using the lens of features that promote children’s understanding, such as including children’s ideas, encouraging multiple approaches and using mistakes as opportunities for learning.
Ms. Dennis’ goal was to help students understand groups of five using hand-held equipment — called a number rack — that had five red beads and five white ones on a stick and another with two rows of such beads. Understanding the concept of five is critical for the students to grasp math concepts, not just learn by rote.
“This is so much deeper than giving kids flash cards,” Ms. Dennis said.
Ms. Dennis found a class with a wide range of understanding, some needing to count each bead one by one and others understanding the groupings. Ms. Dennis quickly covered the beads on the number rack so they didn’t have time to count.
“What did you see?” she asked, never telling a student he or she was right or wrong. but encouraging discovery. Some had to touch the beads to help to understand.
Afterward, the teachers talked about the lesson. Barb Piper, a Woolslair teacher, noted the children had lots of opportunity to talk, including turning to a classmate to share answers. Bennett Kotkiewicz, a teacher at Weil PreK-5 in the Hill District, said Ms. Dennis was “honoring children’s ideas.”
And they thought about ways to help teachers within their own schools. Laura Williams, a Linden K-5 teacher, thought of doing some side-by-side teaching in which multiple approaches are encouraged.
In their own schools, the teacher leaders emphasized their support of other teachers. “I don’t criticize,” Ms. Piper said. “I don’t ever want to do that. I’m there for support.”
By concentrating their feedback on the district’s rubric for teachers, Ms. Kotkiewicz said judgment is removed from the conversation, replaced with facts on what took place in the classroom and how a teacher can help students.
“Our whole focus is student growth,” said Nina Dollison, a teacher at Concord K-5 in Carrick.
The teacher leaders all know the lengthy district rubric well, and Ms. Kotkiewicz said she sometimes notices issues she needs to address right on the spot in her own teaching, such as noticing that not all students are engaged.
One of the biggest changes in the classroom Nicole Murray, a teacher at Colfax K-8 in Squirrel Hill, notes is increased student engagement.
“We work hard in planning lessons together and tasks that are engaging,” she said.
The new teacher leaders appear to be well-received. In a 2013-14 survey, 78 percent of teachers directly supported by an ITL2 agreed the support was of high quality, and nearly as many said it had an impact on their effectiveness.
About a third of the supported teachers answered the survey.
Ms. Reed said the teacher leaders need to build solid relationships for their help to be well-received by other teachers.
When they do so, she said, the teacher leader can be seen as a growth partner, and strong professional development takes place at the school, the place where teachers interact with students every day.
Eleanor Chute: echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.
First Published: January 26, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
