Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

BOOSTING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Denver beckons school officials

RSU 12 and SAD 74 taking part in national conference

By Matthew Stone mstone@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

and Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Representatives from two central Maine school districts on Tuesday will head to Denver to figure out how they can make student achievement the primary focus of any union contract they negotiate and any labor policy they implement.

They'll join officials from 148 other school districts from across the country at a U.S. Department of Education-sponsored conference aimed at giving those districts and their teachers tips on collaborating to shape policies focused on boosting student achievement.

The superintendents, teachers' union leaders and one board member each from Regional School Unit 12 and School Administrative District 74 are headed to Denver because their districts have secured federal funding under key reform initiatives promoted by the Obama administration.

Representatives from one other Maine district, Bridgton-based SAD 61, also will attend.

The Denver conference comes amid a federal push for school districts to pay teachers based on their students' academic success, rather than years of service.

In Maine, examples of such pay systems are rare, but legislators last spring voted to eliminate the legal barrier that prevented administrators from using student achievement data in teacher evaluations. Additional proposals to make it more difficult for teachers to obtain tenure and to require more frequent evaluations will make their way through the legislative process in the coming months.

RSU 12 is unlikely to go as far as designing a teacher compensation system in which teachers' salaries depend on their students' performance, Superintendent Greg Potter said.

However, the district is interested in designing a menu of bonuses teachers and teams of teachers can earn if their students' performance improves.

"I don't see this as a merit pay-type system," Potter said. "That's not what this is about."

RSU 12 -- which serves Alna, Chelsea, Palermo, Somerville, Westport Island, Whitefield, Windsor and Wiscasset -- is participating in the Denver conference because it's qualified for funding from the federal government's Teacher Incentive Fund, a federal grant program that supports pilot performance pay systems for teachers.

SAD 74 -- which serves Anson, Embden, Solon and New Portland -- is participating because it received a $727,000 federal school-improvement grant last summer to revamp the curriculum, activities and schedules at Carrabec High School in North Anson.

As a condition of accepting that grant, administrators must develop a system to pay teachers based on students' academic performance.

Superintendent Ken Coville said he hopes to learn about the specifics of tying measures of academic progress to teacher compensation, especially as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

"I hope we come away with some new ideas that we may be able to adopt or adapt to our local situation," Coville said.

Those in attendance at the two-day Denver conference will hear presentations from more than 10 school districts and charter schools and have a chance to draft an action plan for their own districts.

"It'll be interesting to see what we can do in one full day, and what the other people are doing, and whether we're any different from anyone else," said Renee Seiders, a special education teacher at Whitefield Elementary School and president of the Sheepscot Valley Education Association.

Lester Sheaffer, vice chairman of the RSU 12 board, said he's hoping for tips on working academic performance-based bonuses and raises into contract negotiations. RSU 12 is in the process of negotiating a new contract with teachers.

"Just to give someone a 2 percent pay raise just because they survived another year, I've been arguing that point all along," Sheaffer said.

In SAD 74, Coville said he's looking forward to learning alongside Carrabec Education Association President Dave Ela, a sixth-grade teacher at Carrabec Community School, and board chairman Andrew Davis.

"It will be a great opportunity to exchange ideas and get exposure to interesting approaches that may improve student achievement," Ela said.

Davis echoed the sentiment: "I think it's going to be a beneficial learning experience."

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@centralmaine.com

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com