Case Studies: Overview | Partial Inclusion | Group Awards | Full Inclusion
Some districts include teachers outside of tested subjects in pay for performance systems but to a lesser degree. This inclusion may take a number of different forms
- Attendance, Retention, and Professional Development. All certified staff would be eligible for recruitment and retention bonuses if they receive a satisfactory performance review and attend all mandated professional development sessions.
- School or Department Scores. All staff would be included in individual performance awards but to a lesser degree than teachers in grades (3-8). For example, specialists could receive an award based on the performance of a particular department.
- Inclusion of K-2. Districts would create measures that could be used to gauge student progress in the early elementary grades and use these measures as the basis of performance pay awards.
Examples of programs adopting these approaches are highlighted below.
Mission Possible. Guilford County Schools (GCS) in North Carolina began the Mission Possible program during the 2006-07 school year. Mission Possible has two types of bonuses - (1) bonuses based on performance, and (2) recruitment and retention bonuses. Teachers outside of tested subjects are eligible for the latter if they receive a satisfactory performance evaluation and attend all professional development activities.
Accelerating Student Progress. Increasing Results & Expectations (ASPIRE). The Houston Independent School District (HISD) implemented the ASPIRE program to ensure that educators are preparing all students to be college-and career-ready. All teachers are eligible for individual bonuses, but not all teachers are eligible for the same level of bonuses. To determine eligibility for awards, teachers are organized into three categories: (1) core staff, (2) non-core instructional staff, and (3) non-instructional staff.
- Strand I: Campus Progress Awards. If campus growth goals are met, instructional staff may earn a $1,000 bonus and non-instructional staff can earn $500.
- Strand II: Teacher Progress Awards. Because value-added scores are only available for core subjects in grades 3-8, ASPIRE uses subject-area campus scores for grades 9-12 and campus wide reading and math scores for pre-K-2 teachers in order to determine individual awards. Pre-K-2 teachers can earn up to $2,500 and the remainder of the instructional teaching staff can earn up to $5,000.
- Strand III: Campus Improvement and Achievement Awards. Campus value-added scores are compared to similar schools throughout the state. If they compare favorably, each instructional staff member can earn $300-$500.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District in North Carolina awards teachers up to $1,400 and principals up to $5,000 at the state's lowest performing schools. The district includes K-2 teachers in awards through their own growth calculations, which are based on assessments administered within the district. Non-core teachers and specialists, for whom there is no official testing program, however, are not eligible for individual awards. They are only eligible for building-based awards when their building meets those required growth targets.
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