The Apollo 20 Program is a "turnaround" initiative with an emphasis on improving student performance in math. The key strategies of the turnaround initiative include having effective principals and effective teachers on the campus, more instructional time, using data to drive instruction, creating a campus culture of high expectations,…

The Apollo 20 Program is a "turnaround" initiative with an emphasis on improving student performance in math. The key strategies of the turnaround initiative include having effective principals and effective teachers on the campus, more instructional time, using data to drive instruction, creating a campus culture of high expectations,…

In 2010-2011, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) launched the Apollo 20 Program in four high schools and five middle schools in the district as a "turnaround" initiative with an emphasis on improving student performance in math. The key strategies of the turnaround initiative included having effective principals and effective…

In 2010-2011, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) launched the Apollo 20 Program in four high schools and five middle schools in the district as a "turnaround" initiative with an emphasis on improving student performance in math. The key strategies of the turnaround initiative included having effective principals and effective…

Created by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) represents the first federal initiative targeted directly at state and district efforts to introduce performance measures into educator compensation. TIF responds to a growing body of evidence that existing pay structures do not respond to labor force realities or adequately…

We examine earnings records for more than 90,000 classroom teachers employed by Florida public schools between the 2001-02 and 2006-07 school years, roughly 20,000 of whom left the classroom during that time. A majority of those leaving the classroom remained employed by public school districts. Among teachers in grades 4-8 leaving for other…

Merit pay initiatives transparently alter the teaching profession and goings-on within classrooms, and thereby promise to stoke the self-interests of the two most prominent stakeholders in public education: teachers and parents. This memo summarizes the authors' ongoing efforts to empirically evaluate the extent to which public debates about merit…

In 2006 and 2007, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) awarded Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants for the development of systems to compensate teachers and principals in part based on increases in student achievement. New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS) received five of these grants and is using them to implement its Effective Practice…

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) is a state-funded program in Texas that provides grants to districts for the implementation of locally-designed performance pay plans. All districts in the state are eligible to receive grants, but participation is voluntary. As D.A.T.E. continues in its second year of operation with approximately…

In response to a growing dialogue at the local, state and national levels around the idea of restructuring teacher pay to include performance measures, the American Association of School Administrators surveyed a randomly selected sample of its members to gauge their feedback and interest in pay-for-performance programs. AASA launched this survey…

Since the 1996/97 school year, the state of North Carolina has awarded bonuses of up to $1,500 to teachers in schools that exhibit test score gains above certain thresholds. This article reviews the details of the bonus program, describes patterns of differences between schools that qualify for bonuses of differing amounts, and presents basic data…

In 2007, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began implementing a schoolwide reform called the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) using funds from the federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) and private foundations. Under the TAP model, teachers can earn extra pay and responsibilities through promotion to mentor or master teacher as well as annual…

The Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) was developed in the late 1990s by the Milken Family Foundation as a schoolwide policy to improve schools by raising teacher quality. Under the TAP model, teachers can earn extra pay and responsibilities through promotion to Mentor or Master Teacher and can earn annual performance bonuses based on a…

Legislation passed during the 2001 Iowa legislative session established the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Program, Iowa Code Section 284.12(1). This legislation requires the Iowa Department of Education (DE) to annually report the statewide progress on the following: (1) Student achievement scores in mathematics and reading at the fourth…

Teachers generally feel unrewarded and underappreciated. Most oppose merit pay and extending the school year and desire higher pay and more authority. The most frequently mentioned problems are parents' lack of interest and support, lack of proper financial support, pupils' lack of interest and truancy, and lack of discipline. Other results are…