Three-quarters of the way into the first year of having a Teacher Leader, faculty and staff at Pond Cove Elementary School feel that teaching and learning has improved  there.

Perhaps the only thing missing is a way to measure that improvement.

Tom Eismeier, principal at Pond Cove, and Kelly Hasson, the first to hold the new position of Teacher Leader, reported on the first years' progress to the School Board March 9.

As Teacher Leader, Hasson spends time in individual classes observing and mentoring classroom instructors. Part of her responsibility is to work with various committees and teams within the school and district, but most important is the time in the classroom.

"It's important that I get into these classrooms," said Hasson, longtime Pond Cove teacher with 20 years experience teaching first- and second-graders. "Research shows that improvement happens when there is a mentor, a teacher leader. Teaching is more likely to improve when there is someone going in there working with them," she said.

The Teacher Leader position was introduced last year following the retirement of Assistant Principal Carmen Melito. The Teacher Leader job in one sense replaced that of the assistant principal, but in another sense it provided an avenue for achieving the districtwide goal of constantly improving teaching and learning.

"Because I'm not an evaluator of teachers, teachers are more open to me coming into the classroom," said Hasson.

Though the impact of her work this year has yet to be measured, the demands teachers make on her time indicate that her services are sought. Eismeier said that as Teacher Leader, she is no "Maytag repairman."

"Kelly has the esteem of the staff, they do not feel threatened when she goes into the class. She is being asked to come in," Eismeier said.

Hasson said there are other models of this kind of job in the country, but none stay so closely to the philosophy of being in the classroom as much as possible. "Some other models have been more external," she said.

Hasson was chosen among other in-house applicants for the two-year position. Plans are to have the Teacher Leader position held by a different Pond Cove teacher every two years, while former leaders return to the classroom.

The Teacher Leader job is multi-faceted at part of the challenge has been defining boundaries. Helping to create a local assessment to comply with state Learning Results and No Child Left Behind standards is a big part of the job.

"The first person gets to define the job," said Eismeier. "Kelly has set high standards." The trust and confidence she invokes further develops goals set by the district's Future Directions Plan, as well as initiatives for school improvement, professional development and the development of learning communities.

Dr. Thomas Forcella, superintendent, said, "This is another way of looking at leadership, of promoting leadership within the school."

There are also costs to the job, Eismeier said. Many of the traditional duties of the assistant principal have become Eismeier's responsibility, and he thanked staff for their patience while he learned new roles.

Eismeier told the board he hopes to next come back with a report on the impact the Teacher Leader position has had on the school, whether it be anecdotal, or more quantitative local assessment or Maine Education Assessment scores.