Improving Student Performance, Instructional Practice and Teacher Compensation

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Improving Student Performance, Instructional
Practice and Teacher Compensation

• Prepared for the
• Delaware Conference on Teachers
• Career Paths, Compensation and
• Collective Bargaining in the 21st Century
• Allan Odden
• November 10, 2007
• Lawrence O. Picus and Associates

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Contents

• Education goals the importance of high quality
  instructional practice
• Structure management of human capital around high
  quality instruction
• New objectives for teacher compensation
• Elements of Teacher Compensation
• Key aspects of possible change
• Setting beginning and average pay levels
• Wage premiums for special circumstances
• A knowledge and skills-based salary structure
• Performance bonuses based on improved student
  achievement

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Delawares History

• One of the first states to enhance a traditional
  state teacher salary schedule
• Professional development clusters add 2, 4 or 6
• Responsibility pay
• Done collaboratively
• But now is the time to go to the next level
• Measure actual instructional practice
• Use individual instructional expertise to drive
  system reform, student achievement, and teacher
  career and pay advancement ala Vision 2015

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1. Education Goals and the Importance of High
Quality Instruction

• Primary education goal increase student
  achievement and close achievement gap
• Increased student achievement is largely a result
  of high expectations, enhanced instructional
  practice and relentless work at getting all kids
  to learn
• So focus performance management around the kind
  of instructional practice that will boost student
  learning e.g., that in the 24 standards of the
  National Board for Professional Teaching
  Standards
• Not voluntary and individualistic but systemic
  and universal
• Organize the human capital development system
  around insuring that each teacher strives towards
  acquiring and using the district/state vision of
  effective instruction

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Current Compensation Structure Does Not Support
Current Goals

• Elements in current schedule
• Years of experience, education units and degrees
  not or only loosely linked to value added
  student learning gains
• Individual professional development plans not
  systemically linked to high quality instruction
• No pay element directly linked to improved
  student achievement
• Student test scores not in teacher salary
  schedule

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2. Management of Human Capital

• Recruit teachers who have learned instructional
  practice aligned with National Board Standards,
  which should emerge from NCATE accredited teacher
  training programs
• Induct teachers around this ambitious vision of
  instructional practice
• Evaluate teachers around levels of practice vis a
  vis this version of instructional practice use
  an on-line system like the new PACT system in
  California
• Second stage of licensure is Performance Level 2
• Tenure is transformed into Performance Level 3
• Systemically professional develop around
  collaborative teacher work developing standards
  based curriculum units
• More structure and focus to current PD clusters
• Make individual teacher performance level the
  criterion for career as well as pay advancement,
  e.g., National Board Certification key to teacher
  leadership roles

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3. Goals and Objectives for Teacher Compensation

• Recruit and retain talented teachers
• In all districts
• In places experiencing shortages
• Urban and some rural districts
• Some content areas math, science, technology,
  etc.
• Focus on actually enhancing the instructional
  expertise of all teachers rather than activities
  that might accomplish that goal actually
  measure instructional practice
• Have an element that directly includes improved
  student academic achievement

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Specific Objectives to Attain Goals

• Set market competitive salary levels education
  and the broad labor market as well
• Identify the wage premiums needed in areas
  experiencing shortages urban/rural, math and
  science, high poverty schools
• Identify an instructional vision that can attain
  these goals (e.g., National Board standards) and
  an aligned performance assessment system, and use
  the results in a new pay structure
• Incorporate student performance targets into new
  teacher pay elements

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4. Elements of Teacher Compensation

• Base Pay
• Variable Pay
• Base pay Variable Pay Cash
• Compensation
• Benefits
• Career Opportunity
• Working Conditions addressed by adequacy
  proposals
• Pay elements which I will discuss

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Base Pay

• The pay element most strongly linked to
  recruitment and retention
• The monthly check the most important aspect of
  pay
• Beginning pay critical for recruiting new
  individuals to teaching
• Average pay critical for retaining teachers in
  the system, especially the best teachers
• Base pay progression what earns the annual
  raise replace or augment years and degrees with
  actual measures of knowledge, skills and
  instructional expertise

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Variable Pay

• The pay element that creates the performance
  focus
• Based on organizational performance increased
  student academic achievement
• Provided as an annual bonus not added to base
  pay
• Variable because the bonus is paid only if the
  performance improvement is made
• Important when improved organizational
  performance is critical which is the case today
  in education

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Other Pay Elements

• Benefits teacher benefits are generally quite
  good relative to other occupations
• Career Opportunities will be included in the
  knowledge and skills-based structure proposed
  make contingent on individual instructional
  expertise like Chicago
• Working Conditions addressed by all the
  evidence-based recommendations

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5a. Setting Pay Levels

• Compare teachers to the overall labor market
• Compare to jobs with similar knowledge, skills,
  and work activities, and to math science jobs for
  those teaching areas
• Do on an intra-state basis with regions within
  each state, as there is little cross-state
  movement of teachers perhaps include
  Philadelphia for Northern Delaware

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5b. Base Pay Progression A Knowledge and
Skills Structure

• Make improved instructional expertise not
  training activities the primary factor that
  produces pay increases
• Include other factors as well
• Bias the structure towards the factor (or
  factors) that research shows is (are) linked to
  student learning gains

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Base Pay Progression

• Should base pay progression be linked to student
  learning gains?
• NO
• Base pay is the part of the compensation system
  where the system is buying teacher assets
• Need to buy assets that matter
• Key asset today is prime pay element linked to
  student achievement

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However ..

• Consider adding a base pay progression element
  that is linked to student learning gains
• Yes, it can not affect all teachers
• Yes, it is very controversial
• Yes, there are technical design challenges
• BUT, it provides political cover -- DENVER

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Possible KSBP Structure
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Aspects of this New Structure

• Major pay increase is based on instructional
  performance 10 between categories
• Some step increases 1.5
• Pay can top out at different levels if
  instructional performance does not increase
• Includes wage premiums for math, science, MA,
  Doctorate, and National Board Certification
• Needs operating and transition rules
• Key principle move everyone on at current pay
  level

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Who Should Develop the Performance Assessment
System?

• The STATE
• Districts do not have the expertise to do so
• System should also be linked to a two tiered
  licensure system
• A common evaluation system allows comparability
  between districts if some pay elements are
  designed locally
• In this way, the state can sponsor an ambitious
  instructional vision, one that can educate
  students to world class levels
• Put the system on line like PACT in California

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5c. A Variable Pay Element

• Linked to organizational, usually school,
  performance student achievement
• Like the one just developed in NYC
• Based on IMPROVEMENTS in student achievement
  above historical trends
• Annual bonus
• Needs to be re earned each year
• Each year the target is raised
• So bolsters schools as continuous improvement

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Nine Key Design Issues

• Identify key performance elements mostly
  student academic achievement
• Determine how they will be measured state tests
• Determine how to calculate improvement simple
  change, change to a standard (AYP), value added
  above measurement error

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Nine Key Design Issues

• Create a level playing field mobility, poverty,
  ELL, etc.
• Specify as a bonus, not addition to base pay
• How large 4-8 percent, so 2000-4000, and best
  to have multiple awards threshold, target,
  above target
• -- Use of a balanced scorecard

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Nine Key Design Issues

• Awards to everyone in a school or to individual
  teachers
• -- Administrators and classified staff too
• Write eligibility rules specify up front as a
  bonus, do not have each school determine what to
  do with the money
• Determine strategy if costs exceed budget

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Macro Decision Areas

• Decide where to be in the labor market at the
  market, behind or leading the market
• Somewhat behind for Performance Levels 1-3, but
  ahead for Performance Level 4 and National Board
  Certified teachers
• Degree of interest in changing the salary
  schedule
• From a traditional schedule enhanced by
  professional development clusters and
  responsibility pay to one more directly linked to
  the kinds of instructional practice that will
  boost student learning
• Degree of interest in wage premiums for subject
  are shortages, high poverty schools
• Degree of interest in a variable pay element

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How to Contact Me

• Allan Odden
• Partner, Lawrence O. Picus and Associates
• 608 239 4671
• arodden_at_lpicus.edu
• Compensation Handbook up on CPRE web site
  www.wcer.wisc.edu/cpre
• How to Create World Class Teacher Compensation
  book available for free download at
  www.Freeloadpress.com