Spotlight On: Advanced Teaching Roles Initiative
In 2016, North Carolina created the Advanced Teaching Roles Initiative. This legislation establishes a school leadership re-design model that empowers districts and educators to design new teaching roles that provide advancement opportunities, improved professional development, and greater support for student achievement.
Advanced Teaching Roles enables highly-effective teachers to advance their careers, extend their positive impact on student achievement, and increase their compensation. The best part: they get to stay in the classroom!
In effective models, developing teachers also benefit by having access to real-time professional development, relieving some of the pressures of principals who are traditionally the primary source of instructional leadership in the school. Today, ten districts are taking part in the Advanced Roles Initiative.
Success by Design Program
Created in 2013 and inspired by lessons learned from the Opportunity Culture model in Project LIFT schools, Success by Design is an official Advanced Roles program in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS).
This approach is being phased in strategically over time. During the 2018-19 school year, Success by Design was implemented in 50 schools. Success by Design advanced roles teachers can earn up to $20,000 on top of their base salary, while increasing their impact on student achievement.
Early results from the CMS program suggest that this model helps the district recruit and retain top talent, resulting in significant student achievement gains. During the 2017-18 school year, 58% of Success by Design schools exceeded growth, compared with 27% of all schools statewide. Also, a recent study published by the CALDER Center finds that students’ academic gains increased when taught by advanced roles teachers, with significant achievement gains in math.
For more information visit www.BEST-NC.org/advancedroles.