Policy Decisions to make on Teacher Compensation

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Policy Decisions to make on Teacher Compensation

• Prepared for the
• Washington Learns
• K-12 Advisory Committee
• April 18, 2006
• Lawrence O. Picus and Associates

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Ambitious Goals

• Double student performance by the year 2020
• Students must learn more content and be able to
  use it to solve problems in order to be
  successful in the high wage jobs of the
  knowledge-based 21st century, global economy
• So the 3 Rs of the 20th century are not
  sufficient
• Need 6 Rs for the 21st century

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The 6 Rs of K-12 Reform ..

• Recalibrate outcome goals to the rigorous demands
  of the knowledge-based , 21st century global
  economy
• Double current levels of achievement
• Reduce if not close the achievement gap
• Re-engineer schools so that all current and any
  new dollars are used in more effective,
  evidence-based ways

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The 6 Rs of K-12 Reform ..

• Redesign teacher development, so teachers have
  the instructional capacity to educate all
  students to thinking, problem solving
  communication
• Reinforce the learning of struggling students
  through extended learning opportunities and
  re-engaging families and communities in schools

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The 6 Rs of K-12 Reform ..

• Retool the technology infra-structure of schools
  to position them to tap the teaching potential of
  the Internet as powerful education strategies
  come on-line
• Restructure teacher compensation so that pay
  raises are linked to enhanced instructional
  expertise and annual bonuses are provided for
  increased student achievement

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Embrace NCLB performance goals .

• If not all students, at least 90 percent of
  students to or above proficiency standards
• If not by 2014 then by 2020
• Knowing we can get there if we
• Have a clear vision
• Use our reform strategies as a lens to focus
  efforts and energies

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Contents

1. Goals and Objectives for a Salary Structure
   Aligned with Washingtons strategic education
   policy and teacher development
2. Policy decisions for a new salary structure
3. Policy decisions for a bonus program based
   largely on student performance

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1. Goals for an Aligned Pay Structure

• Recruit and retain high quality teachers
• In all districts
• In places experiencing shortages
• Urban and some rural districts
• Some content areas math, science, technology,
  etc.
• Provide incentives for teachers to develop their
  instructional expertise to world class levels,
  with a focus on problem solving and application
• Provide incentives for improving student academic
  achievement for all students

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Specific Objectives to Attain Goals

• Set market competitive salary levels
• Adjust average salary levels by regional indices
  to ensure adequate salaries for urban and rural
  districts
• Provide wage premiums for shortage areas
• Math and science
• High poverty schools
• Rural, isolated schools
• Identify an instructional vision that can attain
  these goals and an aligned teacher performance
  assessment system, and use the results in a new
  pay structure
• Ensure Washingtons teacher development system
  aligns with the new instructional vision
• Incorporate student performance targets into a
  new teacher pay element, such as a bonus program

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The Features of a New Pay System for Teachers ..

• Comparable wages for comparable jobs
• Hike average pay to average of jobs comparable to
  teaching
• Provide wage premiums for math and science
• Adjust averages by comparable wage index to
  correctly position teacher wages in each regional
  labor market of the state

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The Features of a New Pay System for Teachers ..

• Link pay increases to teacher development and
  education goals
• Category 1 Residency certificate
• Category 2 Professional certificate could be
  strengthened by also having a performance eval
  too
• Category 3 Career needs development
• Category 4 Master needs development
• Plus National Board Certification incentive
• Limited/focused incentive for Masters and
  Doctorate/Specialist only in area of basic
  licensure

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2a. Policy decisions for a new salary structure
salary levels

• What should the average teacher salary benchmark
  be?
• Imazeki report suggests about a 1300 increase
  from 04-05 average of 45,500 (NEA) v. (45,200
  in BLS) to 46,800, v. 45,738 actual in SAM, or
• Use current estimated average of Base TRI of
  about 51,000, which excludes stipends for sports
  and clubs?

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2b. Policy decisions for a new salary structure
wage premiums

• What should the wage premiums be for the
  following
• Math and science teachers
• 5000 at least?
• 10,000?
• Hard to staff/high poverty schools?
• 5000??
• For geographic differences re urban and rural
  issues
• Regional indices based on comparable wages from
  Imazeki report for geographic differences?

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2c. Policy decisions for a new salary structure
knowledge and skills

• Should the current SAM be replaced by a KSBP
  structure on next page?
• If not, what type of alternative?
• If so, what should be the following parameters?
• Beginning salary 30,383 or
• A figure that would produce an average in old SAM
  of 46,800?

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2d. Policy decisions for a new salary structure
knowledge and skills

• Salary increase across performance categories?
• 10
• Want to differentiate by category?
• Salary increase for steps within performance
  categories
• 1.5
• Salary increase for MA, Doctorate/Specialist
• 10
• Restrict degree to teaching license
• Salary increase for National Board Certification
• 6000 or some percentage
• Salary stipend for special roles
• Mentor teachers, etc. a 5000 stipend?

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2e. Policy decisions for a new salary structure
knowledge and skills

• What is the proposal for creating a performance
  assessment system needed to operate the system
• Use Residency Certificate for Level 1?
• Use Professional Certification for Level 2, which
  requires a professional growth plan?
• Could replace or augment with a score of 2 on
  following performance assessment systems
• Use a performance evaluation for Levels 3 and 4
  TEC system, Connecticut adaptation, or what?

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A Performance Evaluation Aligned with Ongoing PD

• Performance evaluation usually has teaching
  standards and scoring rubrics, to four levels of
  performance
• Based largely on a curriculum-unit based
  instructional portfolio National Board, CT, IN,
  TEC

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Standards-Based Professional Development

• Organize professional development around creating
  and refining standards-based curriculum units
• Lesson plans
• Instructional strategies
• Formal and informal assessments
• Reflections
• If just add videos of actual instruction, have PD
  and teacher assessment tightly couples

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3. Policy decisions for a bonus program based
largely on student performance

• Assuming of all teachers (60,000) that half are
  in schools that would qualify for the bonus, and
  that the average bonus would be 3000, we
  estimate the cost of such a program at 90
  million
• Do you want to recommend such a bonus program?
• If so, then we need to design one