Gov. Pat McCrory and State Superintendent June Atkinson announced a plan Monday to select 450 teachers to work on a project for one year as part of a new initiative aimed at developing and sharing “best practices around classroom instruction and professional development.”

The Governor’s Teacher Network will be funded with money from federal Race to the Top grants. The teachers chosen to participate will be compensated $10,000 for their work.

North Carolina won nearly $400 million in Race to the Top funding in 2010, and received an additional $70 million in 2011.

“The Governor’s Teacher Network is a fantastic opportunity for teacher leaders to offer their very best thinking and expertise to support their peers across the state,” Gov. McCrory said in a press release. “Their work will directly result in North Carolina teachers having access to more resources that will help them help students achieve at greater levels. Best of all, these resources will be designed for NC teachers, by NC teachers.”

The average teacher pay in North Carolina was $45,737 during the 2012-13 school year, about $10,000 below the national average.

It’s unclear how exactly teachers will be chosen for the network, except that selection will occur “through a rigorous application process.” Teachers will be judged by their prior experience, “ability to provide resources for identified priority areas,” sample material, and the strength of their proposed project.

More on what the projects will look like:

For the Professional Development pathway:

Candidates must define an instructional problem that has become a trend in their classroom, school or district. They will select an evidence-based strategy that is likely to solve the problem and they will put the strategy into action in their classroom or school. Results of the action research or practice will be reported in a document that can be shared within the district and region. Three professional development sessions will be planned to share the findings with others; a 15-30 minute staff overview of the project, a 90–minute face to face professional development session or institute (s) presentation, and an on-line-mini-module that is housed in Home Base. The professional development will address the processes that were used to identify the problem and select strategies as well as the results. This work will be shared through school Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and upon completion, become part of the state Professional Learning Network (PLN). For the Instructional pathway:

Selected educators will create instructional sequences that cover a total of 9 weeks (approximately 2-4 units). Each sequence shall include the unit plan and a minimum of 4 lessons that integrate a balanced approach to assessment (e.g., daily formative assessment process embedded in each lesson plan, inclusion of a benchmark/quiz midway through the unit, and a summative classroom assessment at the end of the unit). For both pathways, each selected participant must submit a proposal to produce a body of work that is likely to be of significant value and usefulness to a teacher in the given subject area and/or grade-level (the supplemental questions below will help applicants elaborate on their thinking).

More context from NC Policy Watch:

The proposal sounds similar to a plan McCrory floated last summer, when he announced his intention to use $30 million of Race to the Top funds for an Education Innovation Fund that would reward 1,000 top teachers with $10,000 stipends. That proposal was met with criticism by State Board of Education members at a meeting shortly after his announcement. In September, NC Policy Watch reached out to Gov. McCrory’s education advisor, Eric Guckian, to see if the Education Innovation Fund was on the table. While the name seemed to have changed by then, policymakers were still moving forward with the idea. “The goal of the Governor’s Teacher Empowerment Network is the same as the Innovation Fund was, to get the money in teachers’ pockets,” said Erin Gray, Guckian’s assistant. “However, the process of how the teachers receive this money is different. We want to be able to reward as many teachers as possible with this network and produce innovative [sic], master, leader teachers to not only benefit from the extra pay, but will be active to reform schools and lead other teachers.” NC Policy Watch – McCrory announces plan to give 450 teachers $10,000 bonuses with Race to the Top funds Applications are due April 21, 2014. More information here.