WOONSOCKET — A veteran educator has taken over as the district’s first master of teaching and learning, officials have announced.

Lynne M. Bedard, who until last week served as assistant principal at the Woonsocket Area Career & Technical Center, is now responsible for mentoring teachers at that school and at Woonsocket High School.

As part of her new position, Bedard spends her days in both buildings, helping faculty with curriculum challenges and making suggestions about how to improve teaching practices, School Supt. Maureen B. Macera said.

Bedard’s appointment is the district’s latest attempt to improve academics at schools throughout the city. Woonsocket High School, which two years ago received high accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, has more recently faltered. The latest round of state test scores categorized the school as “making insufficient progress” and “in need of improvement.”

That news, coupled with the ongoing preparation for new performance-based graduation requirements, placed a tremendous amount of pressure on teachers, Macera said.

So Macera asked the state to consider financing what she called a master of teaching and learning — “Someone whose singular focus would be helping teachers in the classroom with educational practice and someone who would have experience with ability to more closely bridge the two — career and tech curriculum with the high school curriculum.”

Because Woonsocket is designated as a “Progressive Support and Intervention” district, the state agreed to finance the salary differential that accompanies the new position.

Bedard, who holds a doctorate in philosophy and has worked in Woonsocket schools since 1980, was a natural choice, Macera said. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to appoint someone who has demonstrated, by her commitment and hard work, her dedication to the students and staff where she serves,” she said.

School Committee Chairman Marc A. Dubois, whose board approved the appointment last week, believes teachers will be receptive to the new administrator.

“It’s always enlightening to see how another person does things. I think it will be helpful for teachers to pick up some tips and guidance,” he said.