PROFESSIONAL COMPENSATION: BEST PRACTICES

The Broad Foundation
The Broad Foundation has supported the piloting of differentiated compensation models in Columbus, Denver, Wichita, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Oakland and Houston. Working with Edvance (a new nonprofit formed by the respected American Productivity and Quality Center), teams of teacher unions and administrators are working together to share their innovations, experiences and implementation strategies.

The Teacher Advancement Program
The Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), launched in 1999, offers teachers additional pay for their skills, knowledge and responsibilities and provides a restructured school schedule so there is more time for teacher-led professional development. Now in 10 states and 26 school districts, TAP has led some districts to introduce competitive hiring and to consider plans to offer higher salaries based on how well teachers teach and how much their students gain on achievement tests.

Transformed Schools Plan
The Mobile County Public School System, with support from the Mobile Area Education Foundation, is focusing on improving the quality of teaching in the district’s low-performing schools. The MCPSS Transformed Schools Plan is intended to attract higher quality teachers to underachieving schools, thus improving student learning and test scores. The system attracted new teachers and principals to the schools with cash bonuses, and will give them more money as test scores improve. Teachers can get up to $40,000 and principals up to $60,000 extra over five years. The effort includes more than just a new pay structure, but also a new instructional program and support services at each of the five targeted schools. Schools receive additional professional development and continual coaching on the latest, research-based best practices for improving student achievement. The Center for Teaching Quality is involved in designing and assessing efforts in Mobile.

Denver Public Schools Professional Compensation Plan for Teachers
The most promising professional compensation initiative to date is emerging in Denver under the leadership of union activist Brad Jupp. After a successful four-year pilot program, Denver teachers are rallying around the proposed "ProComp" plan, a comprehensive approach that recognizes the complex variables associated with teacher effectiveness. If a funding referendum is passed in fall 2005, ProComp will be phased in, making it possible for teachers to earn significant salary increases for developing new and relevant knowledge and skills, earning higher ratings on a much-improved teacher evaluation system, teaching in hard-to-staff schools and subjects, and improving student achievement. In particular, teachers will set two performance objectives around student growth and receive bonuses based on achieving those objectives. Read more.