Community Training and Assistance Center

November 2012

Dear Friends:

A partnership of California's Delhi Unified School District (DUSD) and CTAC has been awarded $8.1 million from the federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) to improve student achievement by attracting, developing and retaining effective educators in the district's high need schools. One of 35 winners selected from a pool of over 120 applications, the Delhi TIF proposal was the 7th highest ranked. Its two most distinctive features are the use of Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) as the initiative's key driver and a nationally unprecedented level of union-management collaborative leadership.

Under this initiative, Gains in Achievement and Innovation Now (GAINS), DUSD is implementing a new evaluation system wherein educator effectiveness is measured annually by student academic growth and systematic observations. SLOs are at the heart of this evaluation system, since they measure student achievement growth in tested and non-tested grades and subjects and provide a measure of teachers' instructional and pedagogical skills. As the nation's leading practitioner, trainer, and evaluator of SLOs, CTAC will provide ongoing guidance and assistance in this pioneering effort.

Data from the evaluations will outweigh other factors in guiding DUSD's human capital management decisions, from hiring and mentoring to professional development, promotion, and dismissal. Only effective or highly effective teachers will qualify for leadership opportunities, advancement, and performance-based compensation.

The GAINS initiative is the direct result of a collaboration of DUSD and the Delhi Teachers Association. The changes described above are fully supported by the Delhi Teachers Association, and both the Association and the Board of Trustees have already agreed to incorporate them into the existing collective bargaining agreement.

If you would like to discuss including SLOs in your new evaluation or compensation systems, or to learn more about the GAINS initiative, please contact us at (617) 423-1444 or [email protected].

Best Regards,
William J. Slotnik, Executive Director

Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC)

CTAC builds district, state and community capacity by providing technical assistance, conducting research and evaluation, and informing public policy. CTAC's major education initiatives focus on performance-based compensation, teacher and administrator evaluation, teacher preparation and development, school turnaround and district improvement, state-to-district assistance, and union-management collaboration. CTAC also provides assistance to community development organizations, health and human service agencies, grassroots initiatives, and other institutions working, individually or collectively, to address root causes of poverty. For more information, please visit our website.