by
Annie Enchakattu
| Jan 24, 2012
In recent years, governors and other state leaders have shown an increasing interest in creating new models of teacher compensation that would reward educators based on their contributions to student learning. The National Governors Association (NGA) hosted a policy academy focusing on that issue and today released an issue brief, New Models of Teacher Compensation: Lessons Learned from Six States, based on the discussions.
Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation’s governors and one of Washington, D.C.’s most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three territories and two commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices.
The policy academy provided teams with assistance and advice from NGA Center staff, access to other experts and an opportunity to network with other states confronting similar issues and challenges. During the academy, state leadership teams recognized some common challenges, allowing them to learn from each other, share best practices and commit to some common principles that could guide their efforts.
“Many questions remain about how new teacher compensation models should be structured,” said NGA Executive Director Dan Crippen. “By providing this type of assistance, states have an opportunity to look at ways to change how teachers are paid and the essential elements of teacher pay models.”
As states seek to create new models of teacher compensation, NGA advises governors and states leaders to consider assessment and data systems that measure growth in student learning and link the scores of student assessments to individual teachers. They should also use additional tools and measures for gauging teacher effectiveness that go beyond student test scores (e.g., classroom observations and teacher portfolios) and using evaluation results to identify opportunities for professional development to help teachers improve their effectiveness. There needs to be high-level leadership to engage key stakeholders, especially teachers and principals and the organizations that represent them, to develop frameworks, guidelines and details of new compensation structures as well as comprehensive reform employing unconventional resources and lessons from other states to support the state’s reform agenda.
Visit http://www.nga.org/cms/center/edu to learn more.