Being a teacher--of any grade, of any subject, in any school--isn't easy. Getting roughly two dozen children to learn skills and knowledge takes training, practice, and experience. Like fine wine, teachers tend to do better with time.

Yet as teachers gain more years in the classroom, they tend to slowly fade into something like obscurity. Especially if a teacher isn't on a trajectory to become an administrator, they can receive less and less attention in their school and ultimately be left to focus on only what happens within the four walls of their classroom. This tendency can be particularly true for special education teachers, who are sometimes seen as "less than" general education teachers.

Fortunately, this trend is starting to change. I'm a special education literacy teacher with 25 years of experience, and this school year I had the opportunity to be a part of a very enlightening professional development. For months, I had the opportunity to expand my toolbox and advance my leadership alongside other more seasoned educators. Now, instead of leaving me to my own devices, my school district, North Little Rock School District, and school, Seventh Street Elementary, are asking me to share my tricks of the trade with new teachers.

This shift is part of the LEARNS Act that says all new teachers will have to do a year-long residency in the 2026-27 school year. Each new teacher will be mentored by a lead or master-designated teacher. With roughly 4,000 new teachers each year, the state needs to certify a lot of educators as lead or master teachers. I had the privilege of going through that training this year through the state and our local education cooperative, Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative.

From December through April, I attended a free monthly virtual workshop through the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. The sessions focused on foundational leadership, instructional expertise, data-driven decision-making, and collaborative partnership. For the other teachers in my group and me, the sessions were a chance to use our experience in education to grow together.

If a person doesn't work in education, this approach might sound like common sense. However, for teachers, this type of opportunity is all too rare. A lot of our work happens in silos, with teachers expected to focus on the students in front of them and not their colleagues down the hall.

But this lack of information-sharing harms students. Oftentimes teachers share the same students, and being able to exchange strategies and context about students can be mutually beneficial.

As a veteran teacher, I also have a lot of experience that I can pass along to newer teachers and help to accelerate their learning curve. My job involves meeting in small groups with students who have specific needs and providing intensive literacy instruction. I've taught hundreds of students over the course of my career, and I've learned a great deal about what works. Countless times, I've supported middle school students who start the year as non-readers or reading at an early elementary grade level and end the year at a middle school level. Especially as educators across the state continue to adjust to the science of reading and the different changes created by the LEARNS Act, new teachers will benefit from having a veteran teacher they can call on.

In addition, I'll benefit, too. Teaching colleagues is different from teaching kids, and the training I went through helped me identify what kind of leader I am (Influencer) and equip me with strategies to support my peers. As a lead teacher, I'll also qualify for merit pay at the end of each school year.

Because of this lead teacher program, experienced teachers like myself are being brought into the fold instead of being put out to pasture. We are being recognized as the professionals that we are, with years of lessons learned that inform a rich perspective that can assist our fellow teachers.

This is a new direction from the state, and it's good for teachers and good for students.

Mary Elizabeth McMahan is a special education teacher in North Little Rock.