Seeking+a+Teacher+Pay+System+That+Works

= Programs seek teacher pay system that works = = Changing the Classroom /= = One of an occasional series on teaching in Pittsburgh Public Schools = = = = =

=By Eleanor Chute,= =//Published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette//= =//4/25/11//= =On the surface, the concept is simple: Pay teachers based on their performance.= =As a practical matter, the idea is so complex that many such systems come under criticism for being unfair or unproven to improve the quality of education for children.= =But there is no shortage of people trying to find a performance pay system that works.= =Federal grants -- such as those for Race to the Top and the Teacher Incentive Fund -- promote basing at least part of teacher pay on student performance.= =States also are in on the act, including Pennsylvania, where the state Department of Education has a committee tackling the question.= =Pittsburgh Public Schools, too, is trying to solve the puzzle as it works out the details to performance pay provisions included in its five-year teacher contract signed last year.= ="This is a hot topic, clearly," said John Hussey, chief strategy officer of Battelle for Kids, a Columbus, Ohio, nonprofit that is helping Pittsburgh as it develops its voluntary performance pay program for teachers.= ="I think we're going to see rapid changes in teacher compensation across the country where there is a reward and recognition system or a market-based approach to salaries or many of the other things that are being discussed," he said.= =In Pittsburgh, there is an array of performance pay provisions on the horizon, with much of the money coming from federal Teacher Incentive Fund grants.= =At the district level, the adequate yearly progress bonus, which takes effect with the results of 2011 state exams, awards each teacher at the top salary step $1,000 if the district makes the goal.= =Adequate yearly progress is a student performance standard set under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Results are due this fall.= =At the school level, effective in 2011-12, there is STAR, which stands for Students and Teachers Achieving Results.= =If a city school falls within the top 15 percent in the state for growth on state tests by level, then STAR provides for teachers -- as well as paraprofessionals and technical and clerical workers -- within the school to be eligible for bonuses ranging from $1,200 to $6,000 each.= =The teacher contract sets a goal of rewarding staff from at least eight schools a year, including reducing the requirement to the top 25 percent in the state, if necessary.= =Then there is the team level, groups of teachers who will be working together in the Promise Readiness Corps, which starts this fall.= =In five high schools, a group of Promise Readiness Corps teachers chosen competitively will teach the same students in ninth grade this fall and in 10th grade next fall. The goal is to help students to do well enough to qualify for the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program.= =In addition to an annual payment of $9,300 for the extra work and responsibilities, each teacher will be eligible for a "cohort bonus" of up to $20,000 each over a two-year cycle if the team's students do better than expected.= =In addition to the Promise Readiness Corps, there are several other career ladders starting in the fall and the following year that pay extra money for extra responsibilities and duties.= =But one of the most challenging bonus pay programs to design is VIEW, which stands for Voluntary Incentive Earnings at Work.= =The teacher contract calls for VIEW to begin in 2011-12 with up a pilot group of up to 75 teachers volunteering to be eligible for annual performance bonuses of up to $8,000. The number is to gradually increase to 225 teachers by 2014-15.= =However, the union and the district have found designing the plan is so complicated that this month -- on the cusp of when recruiting volunteers for the fall would have begun -- they decided to take another year to work on the plan, delaying its start until fall 2012.= = = ="We don't want to have something start that we're not satisfied with, that our teachers are not going to be satisfied with," said Mary VanHorn, vice president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.= =Jeannine French, district chief of school performance, said the group doesn't want the problem of "trying to rush into a program without being thoughtful about it."= =VIEW is being designed by a committee of 12 teachers, two principals and two facilitators, Ms. VanHorn and Ms. French. There also is a technical advisory committee and other help.= ="This is one of the most aggressive efforts we've seen in a district that is also a collective bargaining district," said Todd Hellman, managing director of strategic measures for Battelle for Kids.= =Ms. VanHorn said collaboration makes sense because "much more can be accomplished" working together.= =Ms. French said, "We really set out to have this be a teacher-led project. The teachers are the ones who are in the classroom at the ground level."= =The committee has met throughout the school year, studying what has worked or failed elsewhere, exploring the challenges and trying to develop a plan for Pittsburgh. The goal is to come up with a plan that uses multiple ways for deciding a bonus amount.= ="It's not a one-time snapshot. It's not about just a test score. It's about the day-to-day happenings in a class. We can't be in there every day. How do we get enough information to assess their [teachers'] contribution?" said Ms. French.= =A common way to develop a teacher performance pay plan is to include student performance for at least part of a teacher's measurement.= =But that is harder than it sounds. Most teachers do not teach subjects in which students take standardized tests. Two-thirds of the city's teachers do not teach subjects covered by the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, according to the school district.= = = =The Pittsburgh committee is trying to find a way to make all eligible to apply.= =There also is the question of factors that are beyond an individual teacher's control, such as how well prepared students are at the start of a school year.= ="If someone said your class is 70 percent proficient, we don't know if that's good or bad. If they start at 90 percent, that's bad. If they start at 30 percent, that's great," said Ms. French.= =Measurements that consider how much students grow because of a teacher -- not just whether the student was proficient on a test -- are called value-added.= =Pennsylvania has a value-added system, known as the Pennsylvania Value Added Assessment System. However, scores under that system are available only at the district, school and grade level, not by individual teacher.= =So to use a value-added measurement, Pittsburgh must develop its own.= =At this point, the committee is looking at using a value-added measurement and the results of several classroom observations for most of the bonus.= =In addition, the committee is considering various options focusing on three areas: exemplary teaching practice, collaborative leadership and extension of professionalism.= =To gauge teaching practice, the committee doesn't plan to rely on the district's new teacher evaluation system -- known as RISE for Research-Based Inclusive System of Evaluation -- because RISE is designed to help teachers identify their strengths and weaknesses so they can improve, not as a basis for pay.= =Certain elements of RISE, however, are being considered, such as whether a teacher asks questions that foster student discussion.= =Collaborative leadership could include taking a leadership role within a school.= =Extensions of professionalism could include designing and leading professional development for other teachers.= =Teachers who do become VIEW volunteers and are at the top of the salary schedule will give up the annual raise on the salary schedule but will be able to roll 40 percent of their bonus into their base annual pay.= =Those who are not at the top step will continue to get step raises but won't be able to roll any of the bonus into the salary step.= =VIEW isn't eligible for Teacher Incentive Fund money, so it will be paid for by other supplemental funds, said district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh.= =The district already has bonus pay for principals. Its bonuses typically are below the top amount possible.= =The teacher contract also provides that new teachers will be paid on a performance basis five or six years into their jobs. The details are in development.= =It is hard to predict how the bonuses will change the classroom.= =Ms. French sees the incentives as more about recognition than money.= ="This is about increasing the overall effectiveness of our workforce through identifying great teaching practices that are occurring every day in our classrooms and developing the strategies to replicate those practices," she said.= =Saul Straussman, a Pittsburgh Allderdice High School history teacher who is on the VIEW committee, comes from a family of teachers but had two other careers before joining their ranks.= =He said he and almost any other teacher will say he or she didn't go into teaching to get rich.= =But he is interested in applying for the VIEW pilot because he believes some of the tools -- such as observations -- can help him become a better teacher.= ="I want to be a better teacher," he said.=

=//Education writer Eleanor Chute: echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.//=

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