Philadelphia Teacher and Principal Incentive Fund Project (MS Word)

PhiladelphiaTeacherandPrincipal
IncentiveFundProject

Beginninginfall2007,approximately400classroomteachersand20schoolprincipalswillparticipateintheIncentiveFundProject,whichimplementsperformance-basedbonusesandopportunitiesforcareeradvancement.StudentgrowthstandardstobeestablishedviathePennsylvaniaValue-AddedAssessmentSystem(PVAAS)willbeusedasaprimarydeterminingfactorineligibilityforbonuses.

NeedsAssessmentResultsandGeneralInformation

Twenty(20)high-needurbanelementaryschools(grades3to8)servingapproximately12,000studentswillbeselectedtoparticipate.Morethan70percentoftheDistrict’sstudentsareeligibleforfreeorreduced-price lunch; more than80percent areAfrican-AmericanorLatino.In2005-06,thecityexperienceditsfourthconsecutiveyearof growth inmathandreadingscores,andthepercentagesofstudentsscoringatproficientlevelsinmathincreasedto41.8percentoveralland38percentinreading.In2004-05,14percentofteacherswerenothighlyqualifiedand9percentwereteachingwithemergencycertification.Approximately12percentofclassroomswillbestaffedbynewteachersandoneoutoffiveclassroomswillhaveteacherswithlessthan3yearsofexperience.

Background

Theoverallpurposeoftheinitiativeistopilotaperformance-basedstaffdevelopmentandcompensationsystemthat provides teacherandprincipal incentivestieddirectlytostudentachievementgrowthandclassroomevaluations.Thecurrentcompensatorysystemisbasedonseniorityandcertifications/
degreesandisnottiedtostudentachievement.TheexistingPVAASmodelwillbeusedtosupporttheIncentiveFundProject.

Incentives

Theprogram willincludecashbonusesforindividualteachers and principals,and other schoolwideincentives(i.e.,cashbonuses,budgetsforschoolsmaterials),aswellasopportunitiesforcareeradvancementwithsalaryincreases.Mentorandmasterteacherroleswillbeestablished.Bonusesforteacherswillbebasedonacombinationofstudentachievementattheclassroomandschoollevels,andaclassroomobservationprocess.Forprincipals,50percentofthebonusistargetedforstudentachievementattheschoolleveland50percentistobebasedonaleadershipassessmentrubric.Other teachers and staff bonuseswill be basedonschoolwideorgrade-groupperformance.Opportunitiesforfullorpartialbonuseswillbeavailable.

Evaluation

Anexternalevaluatorwillbecontractedtoconducttheprogramevaluation,incollaborationwiththedistrict’sown OfficeofResearchandEvaluation.A rigorousevaluationplanincludesbaselinedatacollectionforthenon-equivalentcomparisongroupinterruptedtimeseriesdesign.Underthisplan,twonon-equivalentcomparisongroupswillbeidentifiedandtracked overtime.PVAASwillbeusedtomeasure year-to-yearteacherandstudentprogresstodetermineschooland/orteachereffectson
students’academicachievement.Valid,reliable,standards-basedobservationrubricswillbeusedtoassessteacherandprincipaleffectiveness.Implementationmeasuresincludesurveysandquarterlymeetings.

Resources

Thedistrict’sAcademyforLeadershipinPhiladelphiaSchools(ALPS)program(establishedbyfundingfromtheEliP.BroadFoundation)willdesignanddeliverprofessionaldevelopmentforprincipalsinestablishingtheirindividualprofessionalgrowthplans,mentoringprogramtraining,andotherprofessionaldevelopment.Fundswillbeallocatedtobuildthenecessaryinfrastructuretosupporttheproject.Bythefifthyearoftheproject,thedistrictwillcover 75percentofthecosts(more than $2.4 million).Thedistrict will allocate fundsfromitsannualbudgettocovercostsofthedifferentiatedcompensationandinfrastructurebutwillalsoleverageadditional fundsto expandtheproject.

Data Systems

Philadelphiahascreatedasingle,secure,onlinedatawarehousethatcollectsstudent-leveldata,whichcanbelinkedtoindividualschoolsandteachers.ThedistrictwillissueaseparatecontractwiththeSASInstitutetoconductindividualclassroom-level analysisneededtomeasureteacherimpactonstudentacademicgrowth.