Alaska Teacher and Principal Incentive Project (MS Word)

Alaska Teacherand Principal
IncentiveProject

TheAlaskaTeacherandPrincipalIncentiveProjectcombinescomponentsofmerit-,knowledge-,andperformance-basedcompensationsystemswhereperformancerewardsarebasedonagrowthmodelformonitoringstudentachievement.The projectwillfocusonteachersand principalswho increasestudentachievementinmath;buildcapacityformathinstructionandprincipalleadership;andincreasetheoverallnumberofhighly-qualifiedmathteachersinruralAlaska.

NeedsAssessmentResultsandGeneralInformation

Thethreeruralschooldistrictspartneringforthisprogramserve1,064studentsin27schools(26/27schoolsarehighneed).Thedistricts’percentageofstudentsclassifiedaslow-SESrangesfrom48to82percent.Moststudents(grades3to10)arebelowproficiencyinmathcomparedwithstudentsstatewide,rangingfrom16.2to95percentproficient.Teacherturnoveramongthethreedistrictsrangesfrom9to36percentwithameantenureof3to5years.Inthesedistricts,just5to23percentofmathteachersarehighlyqualified.

Background

TheAlaskaTeacherandPrincipalIncentiveProjectbuildsonanexisting2006StateDepartmentofEducationperformance-payinitiativefundedbytheAlaskalegislature.Theprogram willaddthespecificfocusonmath—ahard-to-staffareaforthestate—andwillbringattentiontothesubjectthathasbelow-averagestudentperformanceandashortageofhighlyqualifiedteachers.Twoofthethreedistricts(KuspukandChugach)haveexistingperformance-paylanguageintheirnegotiatedteachercontractagreements.Also,ChugachSchoolDistricthasalreadysuccessfullypiloted
partsoftheAlaskaTeacherandPrincipalIncentiveProjectplanviatheQualitySchoolsModel(QSM).

Incentives

Incentivesbasedongrowthinstudentachievementattheschoolandclassroomlevelaretheprimarycomponentsoftheplan,followedbyincentivesforteachersandprincipalsrelatedtotheirperformanceevaluation,professional development,andforassumingadditionalresponsibility.Incentivesbasedonstudentachievementincludeschoolwidegrowthrewards($2,500-$5,500);annualincentivesformathteachers($750-$3,000);andrewardsfordevelopingmathindividuallearningplans($125-$500).Teacherperformanceincentivesallrangefrom$125-$500andincludeteacherperformanceandevaluationProfessional Growth Plans (PGP) for teacherleadershipandPGPformathinstruction.Additionalresponsibilityincentivesrangefrom$500-$2,000andincludecompensationforworkbeyondthecontractdaysuchasmathtutoring,principalcontractwork,andmentoringbothduringandafterregularschoolhours.Otherincentivesincluderegularbonuses($2,000-$4,000)andsigningbonuses($1,000-$2,000)forteacherswhoarehighlyqualifiedinmath.

Evaluation

Theprojectevaluationdesignincludesqualitative andquantitativedataandtheuseofdescriptivestatistics.Theprojectevaluatorwillmeasureallperformancegoalsinsystematic,valid,andrealizableways.Evaluation willincludefeedbackonresultsofpastassessmentstohelpteachersrefinecurriculumandinstruction.Agrowthmodelwillbeusedtoassessstudentachievement.

Resources

TheAlaskaDepartmentofEEDwillcontributematchingfundstobeusedby partnersfortheschoolwideachievementincentive.Federal,state,andlocalfundswillsupporttheproject.Stableandongoingfundingexistsinallthreeareasforthepurposeofthisproject;allthreedistrictswillworkwiththeirschoolboardsandcommunitiestocreatelocalbudgetsfordistrictcontributionsandtoformasavingsfundforanyunusedperformancepayfundstocarryforward.

Data Systems

TheAlaskaDepartmentofEEDwillperformandmaintainthestatisticalcalculationstodetermineannualstudentgrowthusedasthebasisforperformancecompensation.Aligned InformationManagementSystem(AIMS) is Web-basedandcontainsstudentdataandmonitoringandstaffperformanceevaluations.Additionalfeatureswillbeaddedtosupportnewstudentgrowthdatayear-to-year.