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Shelby County Schools' plan for spending more than $5 million in Race to the Top funds focuses on professional development for educators.
Teachers will learn how to better work together and aspiring administrators will job-shadow effective principals, said Supt. John Aitken.
"It's teaching how to collaborate better within the (school) buildings and the district," Aitken said.
Tennessee won $500 million in the first-round shares of Race to the Top funds.
The suburban district will receive $5.3 million in the federal stimulus funds over a four-year period, starting in the 2010-11 school year.
The school system's Race to the Top "scope of work," which details how the funds will be used, was recently approved by the state and is awaiting federal approval.
According to the plan, which was also approved by the school board, the first installment of $1.4 million this year will be used to provide training to administrators and teachers to build a foundation for "Professional Learning Communities."
The "PLCs" are all about getting teachers, principals, administrators and specialists to collaborate to build stronger students and improve instruction methods.
"The first year is really looking at our belief system and how we operate," said Laura Link, a professional learning and development specialist for county schools.
In the first year, the district plans to spend $120,000 to send selected assistant principals to university leadership training and will spend $160,000 on paying an incentive stipend to three teachers at every school to go through extensive assessment training and then share what they learn with other teachers.
The district also plans to use $13,000 to pay substitutes to fill in for aspiring administrators who will shadow successful principals. More than $755,000 will be used to develop "learning coaches" in every school to help with research-based training, support and development for new and struggling teachers.
Aitken said the funds must be used to establish programs that won't need to be funded when the money runs out.
Another primary focus is training teachers in data-driven instruction, Aitken said. That's to get teachers ready for the 2011-12 school year, when 50 percent of their evaluations will be based on student performance.
"We feel like we have to get our tools in place this year to prepare for (what's) coming (next year)," Aitken said.
