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Serious efforts to improve teacher compensation systems and student achievement must be guided, both in practice and in policy, by evidence and analysis of what is working and what changes need to be made to continually improve the district. Simply providing awards based on a single year of comparative test results, without paying attention to the broader institutional challenge of providing more effective instructional support to the classrooms, results in a misuse of public money, a trivialization of human capital support, and a failure to sustain progress in student achievement.
The role of evaluation in performance-based compensation is considerably more than an after-the-fact function or something that can be added well into the reform. When the high stakes universes of money and performance dovetail, the district and union/association need an evaluation that is credible, has a basis in science, and provides causal evidence to guide the compensation reform.
The power of this approach is indicated by field-proven practice. CTAC, as lead technical assistance provider and researcher for Denver's Pay for Performance initiative, conducted the multi-year analysis of the impact of the initiative. This analysis involved more than 177,000 student records (linked to 25 student, teacher, and school variables), multiple measures of student achievement, more than 2,870 survey responses, more than 600 interviews, hundreds of hours of observations-from classrooms to boardrooms-and the detailed review of more than 4,000 teacher-set student learning objectives.
The Denver evaluation provided the first comprehensive, longitudinal analysis of performance-based compensation in a major school district in the United States. It provided the third party analysis that guided mid-course corrections; proved pivotal to union, board, and public votes in favor of a new compensation system; and also provided a research base to inform Congress' launch of the Teacher Incentive Fund.
To learn more about the role of evaluation, please read the following section on why performance-based compensation must go beyond politics and finances to benefit students. To learn more about evaluation in Denver, please refer to Catalyst for Change: Pay for Performance in Denver.
If are interested in an evaluation of your TIF project, please contact CTAC at (617) 423-1444.
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Best Regards,
William J. Slotnik, Executive Director
Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC)
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CTAC builds capacity and addresses root causes of poverty at local, state and national levels by providing technical assistance, conducting research and evaluation, and supporting public policy initiatives. In the area of performance-based compensation, CTAC has provided assistance to numerous school districts, states, unions, and foundations, including serving as the technical assistance provider to Denver's landmark Pay for Performance initiative and conducting the comprehensive study of the initiative. In the area of underperforming schools and districts, CTAC has built the capacity of numerous urban districts and states to improve student achievement through data-informed accountability, site and district planning and management, and increased teacher and administrator effectiveness.
www.ctacusa.com
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