Teachers at this stage have truly mastered their craft, honed in DCPS classrooms over the course of many years. Their students demonstrate exceptional learning gains each year, regularly exceeding even the most ambitious achievement goals. Many of these teachers also serve in various leadership roles within their schools and extend their reach by mentoring less-experienced colleagues.
IMPACT Observations
Teachers at the Expert Teacher stage will receive at least one formal observation. This observation will take place by December 18 and will be conducted by an administrator.
If the score on this observation is 3.0 or higher (on the 1.0 to 4.0 scale), the teacher will have the opportunity to waive her or his two remaining observations: one by an administrator and one by a master educator. (Note: Eligible Expert Teachers may choose to waive both their administrator and master educator observations, or just their master educator
observation.)
For more information about IMPACT for teachers at this stage, please refer to your IMPACT guidebook.
Compensation
At the Expert Teacher stage, teachers in high-poverty schools (i.e., schools in which at least 60% of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-price meals) will be eligible for an increase in their base salaries.
The base salary increase will take two forms. First, teachers will move to the PhD salary band if they are not already there. Second, they will be granted a five-year service credit, meaning that they will be paid as if they had five additional years in the system.
For example, let’s imagine that it is the end of the 2014–2015 school year and your IMPACT rating qualifies you to move to the Expert Teacher stage. Let’s also imagine that you have a master’s degree, and you just finished your ninth year of teaching in a high-poverty school. For the 2015–2016 school year —your tenth year of teaching — we would actually pay you as if you had a PhD and were in your fifteenth year (10 years + 5 year service credit). In this case, your salary would increase from $75,232 to $92,613 — a base salary increase of more than $17,000.
Leadership Opportunities
Teachers at this stage are eligible for all DCPS leadership opportunities. For descriptions of these opportunities, please refer to the Leadership Opportunities Catalog section of this guidebook, beginning on page 30.
In the coming years, DCPS will continue to develop additional opportunities for teachers at the Expert Teacher stage.
Spotlight: Kathy Hollowell-Makle
Kathy began her teaching career in DCPS in 1998 through Teach for America and currently teaches at Simon Elementary. Kathy was honored as DCPS's Teacher of the Year at Standing Ovation in 2013, which allowed her to share her perspective on various issues around teacher preparation, teacher evaluations, and school funding.
As Teacher of the Year, Kathy was a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2014 State of the Union and served on the Teach to Lead Initiative Team at the Department of Education. Kathy also holds a number of leadership positions at her school, such as grade level chair and teacher mentor.
Teacher leadership is important because it gives teachers a voice. It also allows teachers to be directly involved in shaping their school community. LIFT helps to validate the hard work I've put into my students and their learning. It also shapes a professional growth ladder that is achievable. I now feel valued, appreciated, and compensated as a true professional.