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Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Federal Education Grant Providing Merit Pay

Federal Education Grant Providing Merit Pay
Maricopa County is embracing a $51.8 million federal grant to launch a pilot program compensating teachers and principals for student performance.
The Teacher Incentive Fund grant comes as the debate continues about the value of merit pay to increase teacher performance.
The U.S. Department of Education last week awarded the grant to the Maricopa County Education Service Agency to create and implement a performance pay program for teachers and principals.
The money will go to six districts over five years: Phoenix Union; Tolleson, Alhambra and Isaac Elementary; and Gila Bend and Nadaburg Unified.
The program, dubbed Rewarding Excellence in Instruction and Leadership, could transform how schools recruit, retain and compensate strong educators, particularly in high-need areas. The end result would be growth in student achievement.
But a three-year study found that offering bonuses as large as $15,000 failed to raise students' test scores. Vanderbilt University's National Center on Performance Incentives released its findings as the Obama administration is promoting merit pay to improve education.
Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools Don Covey echoed the U.S. Education Department's position on the study, conducted in Nashville.
"Basically, it was very narrow in scope," he said.
"It was up to the individual teacher to raise student performance."
Covey said the county's program will evaluate teacher and student performance throughout the year. It will give teachers professional development and training in the areas in which their instruction needs help.
Teachers and principals will receive merit pay once or twice a year, when student achievement has increased. Teachers can expect to receive 4 percent to 10 percent of their base salary if they meet the performance standards, Covey said.
The program also will offer incentive stipends for "hard-to-staff positions" in science, math and technology, he added. And principals will receive contract addendums of $3,000 to $7,500 for school success.
The grant's focus is aligned with new state legislation.
By July 2012, Arizona law requires all schools to base up to 50 percent of teachers' performance reviews on student progress. The new approach is being driven by a national reform movement prompted by way the federal government awards education grants.
Bill Christensen, Tolleson Elementary School District superintendent, believes merit pay will increase school performance through accountability.
"It will help students, obviously, but it will also help teachers and principals evolve their programs," he said. "That takes money and training and resources. We're hoping to create a model framework for a lot more districts."
For Christensen, defining student achievement "is the most difficult process."
According to Covey, the program will use AIMS scores and national reference tests and assessments to evaluate student growth. Additional testing would help teachers gauge their effectiveness in the classroom.
"Progress assessments (help) . . . the teacher and student know where they stand," Covey said.
The first year of the grant will focus on developing evaluation techniques and standards for educators and performance standards for students.
The second year will focus on implementing the standards. Covey predicted an advisory council will decide on a few options, implement them at a few districts, and choose the best approach for the third through fifth years.
The program will be transparent to the public by establishing a website, publishing monthly updates and creating focus groups to assess its effectiveness in the first three years, Covey said.
The grant, partially funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, awarded $1.2 billion in federal funds to 62 applicants from 27 states.

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Posted by Apply Grants at 08:38

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