ProComp Denver Public Schools Current System

This link has current information, FAQ's, research site, and more regarding Denver's Pay for Performance system.

From the site: ProComp is a groundbreaking compensation system that links teacher pay to the school district's instructional mission. Designed in a partnership between the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and Denver Public Schools, ProComp has received national attention because it rewards teachers for their professional accomplishments while linking pay to student achievement.

Group Reading List

A new feature that has been added is the "Group Reading List" running vertically down the right hand column. I have posted two items there for now, both deal intimately with the concept of design parameters regarding a pay-for-performance system.

Todd Fane submitted an article from a web site sponsored by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching regarding essential factors to consider when designing and implementing a performance-based compensation system.

Alan Abramovitz submitted an article from a web site sponsored by The Joint Commission on design parameters for a successful performance-pay system.

Links to both websites are available on the "Group Reading List".

Informative Websites

Please post your informative web-links with short summary

1) http://www.talentedteachers.org/center.taf?page=project1

This site is the home of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. The link will take you to a 14 page report that details design considerations for "Creating a Successful Performance Compensation System for Educators" It was published July 2007 and includes 7 short case studies.

"Updated News" on the Web

You may notice that along the right hand side of this blog there is a column entitled "Updated News" devoted to new articles/information on the web regarding the subject.

The articles in this list are refreshed by the blog on the fly as Google goes out and finds new articles on performance pay in education. It should update over time as new information is posted on the Internet.

Task Force Meeting 2 - Notes from 11/3/2008

Hello follow Task Force Bloggers!

We spent much of our November 3, 2008 meeting discussing our findings from research on performance pay in K-12 schools and our current understandings of the performance pay issue.

Highlights from the meeting:

• A discussion of the alignment/misalignment of our current teacher salary and the school district's mission, vision and values.
• Successes found in the readings of implementation of performance pay models.

The task force was given two tasks: (1) create an account for this blog and make a posting or a comment to a posting; (2) come to the next meeting with a list of parameters/priorities that you would the group to stay within as we develop a plan. For example, a parameter may be "the plan must include significant financial incentives", or "the plan must not impede collaboration among teachers or schools".

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 1 at 4:30PM.

Welcome to the Task Force - Notes from 10/13/2008

The Park Hill Alternative Pay Task Force met for the first time on October 13, 2008 to discuss the concept of Alternative/Performance Pay, and to discuss the task forace goals. The goal is the following:

The goal of the Park Hill Alternative Pay Task Force is to gather and study the best information on alternative pay systems in K-12 public education, and explore how such systems could be successfully implemented by the Park Hill school district to align with the district’s vision, mission and values.

As a part of the meeting, the group engaged in activities to discuss how the current teacher salary schedule incents teachers. The task force brainstormed the following ways that teachers are motivated by the current salary schedule:

• Get education more quickly to move laterally on the salary schedule
• Move away from frozen salary areas by getting additional educational hours
• Be loyal to Park Hill to move vertically on the salary schedule
• Be profiled correctly (at step and level) at the inception of employment
• Sponsor clubs and activities for additional pay

The task force discussed the school district's newest vision, mission and values (VMV). From this, the task force identified the following requirements of teachers based upon the district's VMV:

• Demand academic excellence/Have high expectations (12)
• Share best practices throughout the district (10)
• Be a respected role model with integrity and good character (7)
• Focus on the "whole child" (social, academic, emotional, health, vocational, etc.) (7)
• Be motivated and inspiring to other teachers (6)
• Embrace new ideas and methods/Improve practice (6)
• Keep students physically and emotionally safe (4)
• Focus on ALL students/Individualize (4)
• Ensure that students visualize and are prepared for their specific futures in a variety of ways (4)
• Use data to drive instruction (2)
• Meet personal goals that are aligned with the BSIP (2)