A presentation was given at last week’s Highland school board meeting about the implementation of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) Grant. The statewide grant’s intent is to give additional funding for teachers. Highland used this funding to utilize two district employees as instructional coaches. Superintendent Chris Armstrong explains the coaches’ functions, “They are supporting the teachers through the various ways that are outlined in the minutes, so they’re going into classrooms doing some observation. They are giving some suggestions around areas that teachers are asking them to give feedback on. They are a non-evaluative group of people, they are just there to support and help.”

Instructional Coach Bill Zywiec stated he spent the year working with a teacher on Standard Based Grading and developed a handbook on such teachers could use. This was among the teaching rubrics, proficiency scales, and strategies he helped develop. Zywiec also gave Technology Integration Specialist Seth Milledge’s hand out of his work for the year. Armstrong said the instructional coaches are focused on developing teaching strategies and the technology integration specialists focus more on technology and how they can integrate that in the classroom in order to enhance teaching strategies. One of Milledge’s highlights was the application of barcodes to the chromebooks, which was in its second year of the district’s rollout.

Armstrong comments on the coaches’ presentation at the board meeting, “I think the board really appreciated getting some of the details of what has transpired throughout the year. All the coaches came at the beginning of the year and they gave a talk in regards to what they hoped to do, so the board appreciated knowing specifically what was able to be accomplished throughout the year.” The TLC program will continue next year, with a reevaluation of the coaches as outlined in the grant. Armstrong says the district is currently going through that process.