<br />
Improving<br />
Student Learning<br />
through Strategic<br />
Compensation<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A TeacherSolutions Report<br />
from the Teacher Leaders of TLN-Kansas<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
July 2008<br />
T<br />
he Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) launched the<br />
TeacherSolutions model in February 2006 when a select<br />
team of 18 highly accomplished teachers from thr<br />
Improving<br />
Student Learning<br />
through Strategic<br />
Compensation<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A TeacherSolutions Report<br />
from the Teacher Leaders of TLN-Kansas<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Produced by The Center for Teaching Qual<br />
The Center for Teaching Quality<br />
seeks to improve student learning<br />
and advance the teaching profession<br />
by cultivating teacher leadership,<br />
conducting timely research,<br />
and crafting smart policy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
To <a title="TLN Kansas page 1" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=1"> Improving Student Learning through Strate</a>gic Compensation A TeacherSolutions Report from the Teacher Leaders of TLN-Kansas July 2008
<a title="TLN Kansas page 2" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=2"> T he Center for Teaching Quality (</a>CTQ) launched the TeacherSolutions model in February 2006 when a select team of 18 highly accomplished teachers from thr
<a title="TLN Kansas page 3" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=3"> Improving Student Learning through Strate</a>gic Compensation A TeacherSolutions Report from the Teacher Leaders of TLN-Kansas Produced by The Center for Teaching Qual
<a title="TLN Kansas page 4" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=4"> The Center for Teaching Quality seeks to improve </a>student learning and advance the teaching profession by cultivating teacher leadership, conducting timely research, and crafting smart policy. To
<a title="TLN Kansas page 5" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=5"> Examining the Policy Landscape M </a> ore so than ever before, policymakers and the public believe the fate of Amer- ican public education rests with teachers. Ov
<a title="TLN Kansas page 6" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=6"> In recent years political pressure and leadership</a> has once again emerged in support of differentiated teacher pay. In an attempt to move away from the negative feelings associated with “merit pay,” a
<a title="TLN Kansas page 7" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=7"> demic goals, reflecting on instructional practice</a>s, and collaborating with the principal on student learning — those are what teachers are now doing.” One of the key issues facing these and other pr
<a title="TLN Kansas page 8" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=8"> A New Course For Teacher Leadership And Professio</a>nal Pay I n 2006, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) and its Teacher Leaders Network (TLN) successfully launched the TeacherSolutions
<a title="TLN Kansas page 9" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=9"> In early fall 2007, CTQ used its suite of virtual</a> communication tools to facilitate live webinars and ongoing email discussions with the core TLN-Kansas planning team. Thesediscussionsfocusedonthepot
<a title="TLN Kansas page 10" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=10"> Unearthing The Issues C onversatio</a>ns at the TLN-Kansas conference in November 2007 centered on the four pillars of compensation reform identified in the TeacherSolutio
<a title="TLN Kansas page 11" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=11"> One other concern is worth noting ... words. They</a> are important. When describing professional pay reforms we choose to use words that can clearly define, inform, and inspire — not alienate. All too o
<a title="TLN Kansas page 12" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=12"> our school districts do not have the “lock” on so</a>und professional development for us either. We have attended too many irrelevant or repetitious “sit and get” in-service trainings that did not improv
<a title="TLN Kansas page 13" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=13"> a difference for their students would be advantag</a>eous. Lory Mills, a kindergarten teacher from Derby, explained: “Teachers who demonstrate that they have taken what they have learned and have applie
<a title="TLN Kansas page 14" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=14"> n Teachers should continually gain new knowledge</a> and skills. In order for this to be successful, however, they must have a prominent voice in the decision-making process. “One-size-fi
<a title="TLN Kansas page 15" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=15"> in Garden City, suggested that the system not foc</a>us on achieving a certain score, but on how much the student has improved overall, including test scores and other measures like grades, attendance, a
<a title="TLN Kansas page 16" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=16"> n Incentives for student learning must be availa</a>ble to all teachers, not just those teaching in the tested, core content areas; therefore, rewards for student learning should be offered to teachers
<a title="TLN Kansas page 17" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=17"> Many school districts across the United States ha</a>ve gotten “in the game” of rewarding teachers for traditional leadership roles. Teacher leaders may receive additional sti- pendsformentoringnovices,c
<a title="TLN Kansas page 18" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=18"> n Before teachers can be compensated as leaders,</a> school culture must change so that administrators accept teachers as true partners in the decision-making process. n Creating incentives an
<a title="TLN Kansas page 19" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=19"> only be offered to those who have demonstrated th</a>e requisite skill set to teach in high- needs schools. To determine the unique qualifications for the targeted schools, educa- tors already employed a
<a title="TLN Kansas page 20" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=20"> Building off these valuable ideas, we recommend t</a>he following guiding principles for including market incentives in any strategic compensation system: n Strategic compensation systems should includ
<a title="TLN Kansas page 21" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=21"> To move these ideas forward we must bring more te</a>acher leaders to the table. But how should we proceed — and which teachers should be at the table? Our colleague, Andrew Davis, of Wichita suggested:
<a title="TLN Kansas page 22" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=22"> Appendix A: TLN-Kansas Team Members Core Plann</a>ing Team Andrew Davis, Wichita Ronda Hassig, Blue Valley Jarius Jones, Kansas City DeAnn Nelson, Wichita Sam Rabiola, Lawrence Marsha Ratzel, Bl
<a title="TLN Kansas page 23" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=23"> Endnotes l Johnson, S. M. (1986). Incentive</a>s for teachers: What motivates, what matters. Educational Administration Quarterly. Summer 1986. 22(3), 54-79. 2 Murnane, R. & Cohen, D. (1986,
<a title="TLN Kansas page 24" href="http://www.zmag.dk/showmag.php?mid=ggfgt&pageid=24"> 500 Millstone Drive, Suite 102, Hillsborough, Nor</a>th Carolina 27278 www.teachingquality.org
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