"A stable source of funding is essential to the success of teacher bonus
systems based on student performance," says Allan R. Odden, co-director
of the Finance Center at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (University
of Wisconsin-Madison). "Lack of funding and a lack of long-term funding
commitment have been key aspects of the downfall of many efforts to reform
compensation in education," he adds.
"Secure funding is one of ten keys to success for performance
pay systems", Odden states in Reinventing Teacher Compensation Systems,
a U.S. Department of Education report which he co-authored with the Finance
Center's director Carolyn Kelly.
To be successful, Odden and Kelley suggest that one percent of a community's
total education budget should be allocated to its performance-based teacher
bonus system. They make that suggestion in their new book, Paying Teachers
for What They Know and Do (Corwin Press).
And where, exactly, will the money for such programs come from? Funding
can come from a variety of sources.
The largest number of programs, of course, will be funded by state
and/or local tax dollars.
In some states, lottery revenues are turned back to communities to
use as they choose; some communities use that revenue to fund their
performance pay programs.
The business community is another potential source of funds; afterall,
funding programs that promote educational excellence--and an educated
pool of potential employees--is in the best interest of business.
Re-inventing Teacher Compensations Systems presents case studies of
four performance pay programs, including one in Dallas, Texas. There a
school-based performance reward program is part of the district's accountability
program, the report notes. The program, created by a 1990 Commission with
substantial business community involvement, provides cash awards to teachers
based on standardized test results. Each winning school receives $2,000;
each teacher in the school receives $1,000; and each nonprofessional staff
member receives $500. In 1994, a second tier of awards was added to provide
incentives to those lower ranked, but improving, schools.
The state of South Carolina has the longest-running state-sponsored,
group-based performance plan in the United States. The School Incentive
Reward Program, begun in 1984, awards performance bonuses to be used for
instructional purposes. Schools that have demonstrated outstanding levels
of student achievement, or that have shown significant improvement in
student performance, receive the awards. The 1996-97 school incentive
program awarded $5 million to 301 schools, according to State Superintendent
of Education Barbara S. Nielsen. Awards, based on a per-student formula,
ranged from $2,500 to $72,000.
Nielsen notes that 42 schools that had been targeted to receive special
assistance had won incentive rewards, meaning that they had shown improvement
from last year. "That's encouraging," she says. "It shows that a lot of
hard work is being done in those schools, and it's paying off for children."
Related Resources
Performance Pay Programs
TEN KEYS TO SUCCESS
All participants whose compensation is being affected must be involved.
All participants must agree on the valued educational goals.
Sound, comprehensive evaluation systems must be in place.
Adequate long-term funding must be committed to the program.
Investments must be made in professional development.
All schools that meet performance improvement targets should be rewarded.
General work conditions must be favorable.
A good working relationship between the school board, adminstrators,
and teachers is essential.
Teachers associations and their members must be committed.
Persistence--until the plan is perfected--is key; it takes time to
work out the "bugs."
Source: Reinventing Teacher Compensation Systems, by Carolyn Kelley and
Allan R. Odden
