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New Directions in Teacher Compensation

First Annual National Conference on New Directions in Teacher Compensation and Performance Evaluation

Sponsored byConsortium for Policy Research in Education

Pew Charitable Trusts

December 7, 2000

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Based on:

Paying Teachers for What They Know and Doby Allan Odden and Carolyn Kelley

Corwin Press, 1997

CPRE Research & State/Local Policy Changes

Further information, research and cases:www.wcer.wisc.edu/cpre www.tqclearinghouse.org

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Teacher Compensation Changes

• The era of the traditional single salary schedule may be coming to an end

• Multiple and varied innovations in teacher salary structures and levels all across the country

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Examples of Innovation• Initiatives in numerous states and districts

to raise teacher salary levels– Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona, South Carolina,

Philadelphia and other urban districts

• Pay for knowledge and skills– Cincinnati, Iowa, Vaughn Charter School,

Douglas County (CO), Coventry (RI), Menomonee Falls and Manitowoc (WI), England and Victoria (Australia), and half the states and the 50+ districts that pay fiscal incentives for National Board Certification

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Use of National Board Certification• Iowa, Ohio & Wisconsin: $2500 salary increase• Georgia: 5% salary increase• Mississippi: $6000 salary increase• North Carolina: 12% salary increase• Oklahoma: $5000 salary increase• South Carolina: $7500 salary increase• Districts:

– Cincinnati, OH: additional $2500– Broward County, FL: $2000 salary increase– Douglas County, CO: $1000 one time bonus– Los Angeles:15% salary increase – Long Beach: 10%+ cost of assessment & materials

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Additional Examples of Change• School-based performance bonuses

– Kentucky, North Carolina, California, Florida, Dallas, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Fairfax County, Memphis, Colonial (PA), Denver, A+ schools in Arizona, England

– Proposed in Georgia, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Philadelphia, Arkansas,

• Higher salaries for teachers in shortage areas– Cincinnati, San Francisco

• Incentives for teachers in high poverty or low performing schools– New York City, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Fairfax

County

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More Salary Structure Changes• Signing bonuses and moving expenses

– Mississippi, Houston, Las Vegas

• Housing supplements– Cincinnati, Silicon Valley

• Full retirement benefits with districts being able to hire back:– South Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico

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Even More Pay-Related Innovations

• Differentiated staffing and differential pay via Milken Foundation Teacher Advancement Program – Florida, Arizona, South Carolina

• New standards- and performance-based teacher evaluation systems that could be used for pay differentiation– Newport News, Reno, Coventry and dozens of other

districts across the country

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New Directions in Teacher Evaluations

• Ability to conduct sound, valid and reliable performance evaluations:– National Board, INTASC and PRAXIS III– Use of National Board standards for evaluation

• Montgomery County, MD

– Use of INTASC adaptations for evaluation• Phoenix Union, Phoenix Elementary, Eden Prairie (MN)

– Use of Danielson Framework• Newport News, Reno, dozens of other districts

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Comments on Pay and Evaluation Innovations

• Extensive – scope is breath taking

• Greater variety than at any time in history

• In the main, not merit pay

• In most cases, have union and management support

• Are vehicles for higher pay levels but not across the board

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• Adopted by public school systems, charter schools and private schools

• When done well, can contribute to a stronger teaching profession

• As will be shown, supports standards-based education reform

• Matches similar fundamental pay changes in the private sector

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For the evaluation approaches ...

• Highly professional

• Requires standards-based judgements of behavior to professional standards of practice

• Sophisticated and dramatically improves typical evaluation practices

• Generally includes peer assessors as well as management assessors

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CPRE Approach to Compensation

• As a strategy to accomplish the goals of standards-based education reform

• As a strategy to enhance teaching as a profession

• As a strategy to raise teacher salary levels

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Standards Based Education Reform

• To teach more (most) students to high levels requires:– Quality teachers– Whose instructional expertise is first rate– And who not only believe students can learn to

high levels but know how to instruct them so they do

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Professional Knowledge Base for Teaching Students to High Standards

• How People Learn by John Bransford, Ann Brown and Rodney Cocking, National Academy Press, 1999

• Summarizes research from cognitive psychology on how students learn complex academic subject matter

• Summarizes research on professional development for teachers to teach this way

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A Knowledge & Skill Continuum

• This and other research and practical knowledge must be organized into a knowledge and skills continuum, that expands and deepens over a teacher’s career

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So, to accomplish all these goals ...• A state, its districts and the teaching profession

must identify what teachers need to know and be able to do -- teaching standards -- to educate students to state performance standards

• This expertise, which expands and deepens over time, must become the vision for pre-service preparation, new teacher induction, licensure, ongoing development, & teacher evaluation -- i.e., the education HR system must be overhauled

• … including a redesigned compensation structure

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Why teacher compensation?

• The single salary schedule– Provides salaries to all teachers in a fair way, but– Is not strategically aligned with needed knowledge &

skill continuum or education goal• Education units and degrees at best indirectly focused on

desired teacher knowledge and skills

• Does not have a student achievement results element

– Not a good structure for salary increases re recruiting and retaining teachers

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A More Strategic Teacher Compensation System

• Knowledge and skills based pay – pay increases for demonstrated improvements in

knowledge, skills and expertise needed to improve student achievement

• School-based performance awards – bonuses for all faculty/staff in a school that meets

pre-set performance improvement targets

• Neither are individual merit pay• Salary benchmarks adequate to recruit & retain

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What is Knowledge and Skills-Based Pay

• Focused on individual teachers• Pay increases based on increased professional

expertise, i.e., performance to teaching standards• Standards represent knowledge and skills needed

to improve student performance• Usually the basis for permanent increases in base

pay (instead of or in addition to years of experience and degrees and units)

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What is Needed for Knowledge and Skills Based Pay

• Identification of knowledge and skills, or teaching standards linked to student standards and teacher career stages

• Assessments of knowledge and skills -- how to assess and who should do it

• Linkage to a salary schedule

• Related professional development and other system enablers

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What is Needed for a Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation System

• Explicit standards for what teachers should know and be able to do

• An evaluation system that can identify the level of a teacher’s practice to the standards

• Professional development that is linked to the level of a teacher’s performance

(Everything except the link to salary!)

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What Standards Do We Have?

• Have: For performance-based teacher licensure

– standards: PRAXIS I, II, III & INTASC– Career teaching standards: ASCD Framework

for Teaching written by Charlotte Danielson – Accomplished teaching standards: NBPTS– (Links licensure to evaluation standards)

• Could use -- MA in license area, content

• Could also use -- expertise for a school design

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Adapt Current Teaching Standards

• Adapt Teaching Standards to:– include a variety of discernable and measurable

teaching practice levels– differentiate as much as possible by content

area and student development level– provide examples of teacher behavior for both

different standards and behavioral levels

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The Performance Assessment Process

• Create a solid performance assessment system so the almost year-long comprehensive review can occur periodically

• Identify the evidence required for each standard

• Develop clear rubrics for making assessment judgements from the evidence

• Determine mix of classroom observations, videos of lessons, portfolios of standards-based instruction

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Behavioral Levels of Performance

1. Beginning teacher -- entry level

2. Basic -- effective teaching and classroom management

3. Licensure -- “developing professional,” beginning

content specific pedagogy

4. Proficient -- solid array of professional expertise

including mastery of content specific pedagogy

5. Advanced -- assessment & instructional design

6. National Board Certified

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Two Major Approaches to KSBP Plans

• Redesign the entire salary schedule to include knowledge and skills as a core element that triggers major salary increases

• Keep current steps and lanes structure and add knowledge and skill elements

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Full KSBP ModelPerformanceStandard

Performance Level

National Board Board Certification, 3 steps

Distinguished Advanced, 3 steps

Solid Professional Proficient, mastery of contentspecific pedagogy, 3 steps

Full ProfessionalLicense

State license, developingprofessional, 3 steps

ASCD Standards Basic, 3 steps, max of 5 years

Initial Licensure Max of two years

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Additional Knowledge and Skills• For permanent pay increases:

– License in a second subject

– License in a shortage area -- mathematics, science, technology

– Masters in area of license, or just content area

– Expertise for a comprehensive school design

• For one time payments, e.g.– computer software, district provided pd classes,

• For leadership roles– lead teacher, curriculum council chair, peer assessor,

school mentor/coach/instructional facilitator

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Key Characteristics• Compensation structure reinforces state & district

education reform goals and strategies

• Advancement across categories depends on increased expertise -- better instruction

• Salary is capped if professional expertise does not improve

• Overlap of in-service, evaluation and license standards, assessments/evaluation and compensation

• Linkage of compensation to teacher quality

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Recommendations for Policy• Create a brand new teacher salary structure

– adopt standards for new & beginning teachers, for career teachers & experienced, accomplished teachers

– embed teacher licensure within the standards– link licensure, professional development, evaluation

and compensation to the standards– adopt a teacher salary framework to allow the

district to recruit and retain quality teachers

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Why this broader approach?• Systemic & focuses on improving instruction -- the

key to having all kids achieve to high standards

• Addresses huge arena between beginning teachers (licensure) and National Board Certification

• Integrates all elements of HR system -- pre-service, licensure, recruitment, selection, induction, development, evaluation and compensation -- around effective instruction

• Improves teacher evaluation -- a huge plus

• Including pay makes entire effort real and serious

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And …...

• This kind of a new salary structure is an attractive vehicle for raising overall teacher salary levels

• This salary structure also could help recruit large numbers of new teachers -- it allows for quicker movement up the salary schedule and also offers higher salaries for the best teachers -- so is attractive to Generation Y

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An Add-On Approach

Steps BA MA MA +Knowledge and

Skills

1DevelopingProfessional

+ 5%

2Proficient

+ 10%

Advanced+ 15%

nNational Board

Certified+ 20%

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School Based Performance Awards

• School based

• Student performance oriented

• School goals are improvement in student performance, largely student achievement

• Provide pay bonuses to all professional staff (and sometimes others) in schools that meet performance improvement targets

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Creating a School Based Performance Award Program

• Identify most valued results -- achievement

• Measure results -- valid and reliable

• Calculate change and make calculations fair

• Set improvement targets

• Determine types and levels of awards

• Determine long term funding

• Establish system enablers, including KSBP

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Recommendations for Policy Initiatives -- SBPA

• Design and implement a school-based performance award program using the state’s tests and assessments

• Set performance improvement targets at 2-4 points a year; best is change to a standard

• Provide 3-4 levels of awards, with the target award at the $2000-$3000 per teacher level -- one higher, and two lower -- and include classified staff as well, prorated