The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) named Robert Hill, head of school at Alice M. Harte Charter School in New Orleans, and Kevin George, superintendent of St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools in Reserve, as Teach Factor Fellows for the recently launched Teach Factor initiative. This initiative illuminates the stories of effective teachers, principals and superintendents to reveal scalable solutions for teacher leadership – a factor pivotal to the profession and student achievement.
“The culture has shifted through a forum of knowing how to improve,” said Hill. “’One team, one heartbeat’ is the motto at Alice M. Harte Charter School. Teachers are celebrated, students are rewarded, and everyone is unified around the job of teaching and growing kids academically and in life.”
Hill first began working in InspireNOLA in 2005. Since implementing formal teacher leader roles in partnership with NIET, Alice M. Harte Charter School has maintained an “A” letter grade for the past four years. Additionally, teachers and leaders across the InspireNOLA network have seen an increase in academic outcomes and teacher development.
Through The Teach Factor, NIET is working with educators like Hill and George across the nation to define the most effective models of teacher leadership and develop a formal structure that schools, districts and states can implement to maximize the impact of teacher leaders.
“Before our partnership with NIET, we had a lot of moving pieces,” said George. “Working with NIET has allowed us to bring everything together and given us one single focus. It has given our principals and instructional leaders the ability to take their teachers and guide them from where they are to where they need to be. It’s been an invaluable initiative for our schools.”
George became superintendent of the St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District in 2013. He had previous experience with the Louisiana Department of Education and as a principal and teacher at schools throughout the state. Since implementing formal teacher leader roles in partnership with NIET, St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District has increased career pathways to provide ongoing support to its classroom teachers. The implementation of weekly cluster meetings provided by master and mentor teachers have proven to be an essential tool to focus individual support on teachers and students. While the district has always placed attention on improving the quality of classroom instruction, the partnership with NIET has ensured that teachers and leaders receive the support needed to customize learning for every child.
Teach Factor Fellows will participate in panels and roundtable discussions and share their stories of success in teacher leadership as well as their trusted resources at teachfactor.niet.org and on NIET’s social channels. They will share proven methods that have led to increased student achievement and promote these methods as best practices. Fellows also encourage other educators to share their stories on the site or via social media using #TeachFactor. Stories collected will be used to develop additional resources to benefit teacher leaders.
“We’re proud to have educators like Robert Hill and Kevin George as Teach Factor Fellows,” said NIET Co-President and Chief Strategy Officer Patrice Pujol. “Their success advancing teacher leader roles and impacting achievement in schools like those in InspireNOLA embodies The Teach Factor and serves as an example all schools, districts and states can follow."
More information and resources, including videos from 12 Teach Factor Fellows like Hill and George, are available by following @NIETteach on social media and at teachfactor.niet.org.
About NIET
Based on the knowledge and experience gained from two decades of on-the-ground implementation with TAP, combined with the growing demand for proven reforms in teacher and principal effectiveness, NIET supports schools, districts, universities and states with educator evaluation training, teacher leader certification modules linked to learning platforms and human capital management systems as well as tools and resources for educator preparation. Learn more at www.niet.org.
Based on the knowledge and experience gained from two decades of on-the-ground implementation with TAP, combined with the growing demand for proven reforms in teacher and principal effectiveness, NIET supports schools, districts, universities and states with educator evaluation training, teacher leader certification modules linked to learning platforms and human capital management systems as well as tools and resources for educator preparation. Learn more at www.niet.org.