Teachers Supporting Teachers: State Policies for Non-Classroom-Based Instructors

Across the United States, non-classroom-based positions have been added in districts and schools to provide instructional support to teachers. They go by various names–coach, mentor, teacher leader–but their primary function is to assist teachers who lead classrooms to be more effective, ultimately helping improve student outcomes and teacher retention rates. These teachers have potential to play a significant role in improving teaching practice–if properly selected, prepared, evaluated, and supported.

However, the majority of states using non-classroom-based instructional staff do not seem to have state policies addressing who is qualified, what preparation and professional learning opportunities they should receive, or how they should be selected, evaluated and compensated. In this Ask the Team brief, we offer a review of existing state policies and highlight various state-level programs aimed at supporting this growing category of educators.