Longer Year for Fairfax Teachers

Leslie Butz, an assistant superintendent who oversees the teacher leadership program, said the first round of grants in 2006 encouraged schools to "be creative and try new things." The first evaluation came out last fall and showed some improvement in teacher collaboration and in reliance on research. Another is due in the fall.

The next round of grants, expected in the coming year, will require applicants to be very specific about which groups of students they are seeking to help and how they would measure progress in student achievement.

Several principals at schools that have received grants say teachers are learning new skills and students are making academic gains.

At Westlawn Elementary, 39 of 52 teachers have used extended contracts to create a three-week orientation and professional development program.

Typically, teachers have a few meetings "and then the kids are there," Principal Kim Dockery said. With extended contracts, new teachers have time to learn strategies from mentors and then observe them during summer school, which takes place simultaneously.

Marshall High is the only high school in the county where nearly every teacher has an extended contract. Drawing on research, teams from each discipline meet regularly to discuss what they teach and how they should teach it, including how to modify their approach for students who excel or struggle.

Rather than the traditional model, "where you shut the door and you are responsible for everything that happens there," the best way for teachers to improve is to share research and feedback and implement what works, said J. Timothy Kane, an International Baccalaureate history teacher.

In Marshall High's library, Kane and two other social studies teachers spent their summer morning studying results from the most recent IB history exam and analyzing a dip in scores in one area of the test. They reviewed what might have been different about the teaching in other areas. Three-quarters of their students scored a five or better on a seven-point scale. "That's very good, but you can always do better," Kane said.

Later, Kane grilled second-year teacher Susan Cimburek about Truman for a U.S. history course.

Without the extended contract, Cimburek said she would still be reading up on the 33rd president and preparing for school. "But here you are working with other people, and the product is better," she said.