Teachers Pursue Customized Master’s Degree

When East High English teacher Kortny Williamson launched her career three years ago she also signed on as part of a groundbreaking group of new teachers who opted for an opportunity unique to Des Moines Public Schools. It’s called the Alternative Teacher Contract and it provides incentives to attract, motivate and retain teachers who are custom designed to succeed in diverse, urban school districts like DMPS.

Yesterday, on the eve of her fourth year, Williamson and the other 44 members of her cohort shifted into an exciting new gear of the ATC when they began working toward a master’s degree that has been jointly tailored by DMPS and Drake University to train teachers to be more effective in this particular district.

Classes won’t formally begin until January. Until then the targeted professional development and mentoring the cohort has been receiving for the last three years will continue. We will provide ongoing coverage from the individual perspective of one teacher, Williamson, who shared these impressions with us of yesterday’s launch:

“Today (August 20), all Year 4 ATC teachers met at Drake in the morning to take the Drake Writing Test. Then this afternoon we all met at (the DMPS Operations Building on) Dean Avenue. (DMPS Equity Coordinator) Isaiah McGee gave us a brief overview of one of the core topics we’ll work with for our masters: cultural proficiency. He was followed by (Drake Dean of Education) Dr. Janet McMahill, who gave an overview of the masters program that was created by Drake University and DMPS, with the help of several DMPS teachers. I am really excited for the masters program. I think the options we are being given are something you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else, and it is great that the core topics are those that address the mission, vision, and value statements of DMPS.”

This first cohort is tentatively scheduled to receive their specialized degrees, at no charge to them, in the spring of 2017 as they blaze the trail for the classes lining up behind them. According to DMPS Director of Teacher Development Jeri Moritz, “The momentum continues to grow as our second and third cohorts of ATC teachers include over 130 DMPS teachers. And we are proud to announce that our 4th cohort of the ATC program currently includes over 70 teachers new to the profession who selected to become a part of this visionary program. This is what makes DMPS unique not only in Iowa, but our nation as a whole.”

This is the sort of substantive innovation that puts meat on the bones of lofty sounding goals and slogans like becoming “the model of urban education nationwide.”

So stay tuned as we periodically check in with Kortny Williamson and her fellow groundbreakers who are making DMPS the launching pad of bold new generations of students and teachers who truly are made for each other.