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Teacher Compensation Research
and Policy Overview
SEDL Policy Forum 2005
Tony Milanowski
Consortium for Policy Research in
Education
Wisconsin Center for Education Research
University of Wisconsin-Madison
CPRE Work on Teacher
Compensation Innovations
1991: Odden & Conley, “A New Teacher Compensation System to
Promote Productivity”
1995-97: Exploratory design meetings with National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards, leading edge states & districts,
national teacher organizations
1997: Odden & Kelley, Paying Teachers for What They Know and
Can Do (2nd ed. 2002, Corwin Press)
1996-2005: Research on school-based performance awards &
knowledge & skill-based pay; National Conference.
www.wcer.wisc.edu/cpre
Teacher Compensation Innovations
What are they?
Where are they being used?
What do we know about how they work?
Compensation Innovation Menu
Strategic Need
Innovation
Recruit & retain in hard-to-staff,
high need schools
Signing bonus, ‘add-on’ to base pay,
loan forgiveness, housing assistance,
extra retirement credits
Recruit & retain in shortage areas
Signing bonus, ‘add-on’ to base pay,
higher placement on pay schedule
Knowledge & skill-based pay
Improve skills of current faculty
Motivate effort, focus on goals,
common sense of purpose
School-based performance awards
Motivate, ‘reward the best’
Individual performance awards based
on student achievement
Incentives for Teaching in Hard-tostaff or High-Need Schools
Where?
California (National Board Certified teachers)
New York
Nevada
Houston
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Hamilton Co, TN
Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, FL
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC
Incentives for Teaching in Hard-tostaff or High-Need Schools
Relevant Research
Teachers tend to move out of poor, non-white, low
achievement schools
Both pay and working conditions affect teacher job
choice
Econometric studies suggest relatively large financial
incentives would be needed to influence teacher choice
No large scale studies of targeted incentives; anecdotal
evidence positive from some districts
Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Equity
Plus Program
Signing Bonus ($2,000)
Deferred Accountability Bonus ($500-750) (to be
replaced with performance pay 2006-07)
Master Teacher Incentive ($1,500-2,500)
Reduced class size and extra resources
Paid/subsidized Master’s degree tuition
Pay incentives to help retain quality school
leaders
Hiring/Retention Incentives for
Teaching in Shortage Areas
(Math, science, special education)
Where?
North Carolina (program discontinued)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Baltimore
Blue Valley, KS
‘Covert’ programs (bring in at higher step)
Incentives for Teaching in Shortage
Areas
Relevant Research
Some evidence that math/science teachers have betterpaying alternatives outside education than other teachers
Significantly higher base pay (at least 25%) would be
needed to attract a significant number of Wisc. math,
science, and technology majors to teaching
Evaluation of NC program concluded that modest
incentives can have a positive effect on recruitment of
math & science teachers
Knowledge & Skill-based Pay I
Incentives for National Board Certification
Most states and many districts provide them
Range from assistance with application costs to
bonuses, 10-15% pay increases
Research suggests:
– NB assessment does identify teachers with higher
levels of student achievement
– Incentives raise rate of NB participation
– Mixed evidence on whether NB improves skill
– NB teachers may not be teaching where most
needed
Knowledge & Skill-based Pay II
Incentives for Professional Development
Participation
Iowa, Minneapolis, Douglas County, CO,
Plymouth & Menomonee Falls, WI, Delaware
- Moderate participation, relatively low cost, and
perceived effectiveness in Douglas County
- Shaky start in Minneapolis due to district leadership
changes, implementation problems, and new
direction from state level
Knowledge & Skill-Based Pay III
Pay for Demonstrating Competencies in the Classroom
Based on a comprehensive model of what teachers
should know and be able to do
- Explicit standards, multiple practice levels, and behavioral
rating scales
- Multiple classroom observations & multiple lines of evidence
- Danielson’s Framework for Teaching popular starting point
If periodic assessment shows practice is at a higher
level, teacher receives a base pay increase or salary
add-on, and in some cases the potential for more step
increases (otherwise capped)
Knowledge & Skill-Based Pay
Demonstrating Competencies in Classroom
Where?
Vaughn Charter School, Kyrene, AZ
Cincinnati, Philadelphia, La Crescent, MN, Steamboat
Springs, CO
CPRE Research Findings:
Trained evaluators can provide reliable ratings
Evaluation ratings from well-designed & run system are
correlated with student achievement
Evaluation process affects teaching practice
Knowledge and Skill-based Pay
Demonstrating Competencies in Classroom
CPRE Research Findings
Requires attention to teacher development
- Feedback, coaching
- Aligned professional development
Can be costly and time-consuming to administer
In typical district, many teachers are likely to be
uncomfortable with uncertain pay and higher
expectations for teaching practice
School-based Performance Awards
Bonuses provided to all teachers (and
others) in a school when that school
achieves pre-established performance
goals
Longest-running ‘new’ compensation
innovation
North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Dallas,
Cincinnati, Vaughn Charter, several Arizona
districts in response to Prop 301
Kentucky, California
CPRE Research Findings
Programs help focus attention & emphasize
performance goals
Low to moderate motivational impact
-
Small bonus amounts
Limited attention to ‘enablers’
Uncertainty about effort-goal link
Uncertainty about funding
May increase turnover in schools identified as lowperforming
Performance pay option least preferred by students
preparing to be teachers in Wisc.
May be most effective as a symbol rather than a
motivator
Incentives for Individual Teacher
Performance
“Merit Pay” – variable annual pay increases
based on principal’s subjective evaluation of last
year’s performance
- Problems with evaluation, funding
- Programs died out except in a few wealthy districts
Current approach: pay increase or bonus based
on achievement of individual teacher’s students,
often calculated using ‘value-added’ approach
- Colonial, PA
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg
- Dallas? Houston?
Research on Individual Incentives
Based on Student Achievement
Very limited; mixed evidence from Mexico, Israel
and US
Only very best and worst teachers can be
reliably differentiated due to small samples
Not all teachers teach tested subjects
Students not assigned to teachers at random
Control for student characteristics or not?
Our Take on Teacher Pay Innovations
Incentives for teaching in high-need schools look
promising, especially when coupled with working
condition improvements
Incentives for shortage areas: common sense to policy
makers but a dilemma for teacher organizations
Incentives for professional development can be useful
as a ‘soft’ way to more strategic use of pay, but danger
is loose administration
KSBP based on demonstrating competencies in the
classroom could work, but needs streamlining and
careful implementation
Our Take….
Problem may be skill, not will
Pay change has often been seen as an end in
itself, or as another simple solution
Need to use pay change to support other reform
strategies that impact instruction; pay by itself is
not a strong reform strategy
Strategic Pay Alignment
District Instructional Strategies &
Program Initiatives
What Teachers Need to Know & Be Able To Do
Pay for
Skill Behavior Results
Human Resource Management Systems
Staffing, Induction/Mentoring, Professional Development,
Performance Evaluation, Leaders
Teacher Acceptance Is Important
Why are teachers suspicious of performance
pay?
Long experience with traditional schedule
- Simple, predictable, objective
Distrust of state/district will and ability to continue
to fund innovations
Many teachers don’t believe they can reach a
higher standard of practice
Teacher ‘sunk costs’ after 7-10 years in traditional
schedule
Better Research on Pay Innovation
Effects is Needed
Why do we know so little about teacher pay
innovations?
Many don’t get fully implemented, change
frequently, or disappear quickly
No comparison groups, no randomization;
before/after comparisons obscured by other
simultaneous reforms
Academic incentives vs. policy maker needs