Improving student learning and educator effectiveness is at the heart of the Maine Schools for Excellence (MSFE) initiative, which is the umbrella for a 5-year Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The TIF 3 grant is assisting selected districts in their design and implementation of comprehensive human capital management systems.

As a participating TIF 3 MSFE district, MSAD 24 will implement strategies that address the five components of the MSFE human capital management system in the figure below. 

The MSFE Leader Evaluation and Professional Growth (LEPG) program is part of the Evaluation and Professional Growth component of the human capital management system for all educators. The name reflects the interdependence between performance evaluation and professional learning and growth, which are essential to the development of school principals, assistant principals, and other school leaders. Although the model LEPG program is designed for use with school principals, it will eventually be adapted for use with assistant principals and other educational leaders.

The LEPG program is a central component in districts’ efforts to build a leadership pipeline, which systematically builds teacher-leader skills to prepare future principals. The LEPG program also can contribute to leadership preparation, hiring, induction, and compensation by clearly communicating leadership performance expectations. A summative effectiveness rating (LEPG Rating) of effective or distinguished is a prerequisite for certain leadership roles in the district as well as performance-based pay and related stipends.