Mentor Instructional Coach Joni Readout is keenly focused on improving both instructional practices and student achievement at Clarke Community School District in Osceola, Iowa. Readout works side by side with first- and second-year teachers to ensure they are empowered and supported to be effective teachers, leading to the best results for their students. She is a fixture in the classrooms despite the fact that she doesn’t have her own, jumping in to do whatever is needed: observing, providing feedback, modeling, team-teaching, pulling small groups, team and individual planning and collaboration and working with individual students. She is proud of her work with the Milken Instructional Coach Collective, providing collaboration opportunities for coaches across the nation.
Supported and managed by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, the TAP System is a comprehensive educator effectiveness model that provides opportunities for career advancement, professional growth, educator evaluation and performance-based compensation for educators; Central Decatur CSD adopted it in 2012. Readout was a mentor teacher at the elementary school before moving to Central Decatur Junior-Senior High, where she did serve as a master teacher before moving to Clarke Community School District in 2020. The small, rural school has shown consistent growth in student achievement.
Readout has spoken about teacher leadership to the School Administrators of Iowa and has also presented about effective teacher evaluation strategies at district leadership meetings, helping teachers reframe classroom observations as opportunities for growth and reflection that support student learning. She is committed to continuous learning, seeking out strategies that will help her staff and students succeed and routinely participating in professional learning at the local, state and national levels. Readout is a certified Google educator and has presented at the Iowa 1:1 conference and 21st Century Learner’s Conference about educational technology.
Readout has served as an adjunct at Graceland University, teaching an introductory education class to high school juniors and seniors, setting up students to join the ranks of the next generation of educators. The school’s former volleyball coach, Readout attends numerous sporting events and school functions. She encourages both students and teachers to reflect on their actions, learn from their mistakes, challenge themselves and never stop trying.
Readout is a graduate of Iowa State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2009 and a master’s in curriculum and instructional technology in 2015.
Press release: Iowa's 2017-18 Milken Educator Award goes to … Joni Readout!
"The rewards of being a teacher might not come daily and..." (read more)
