This is the third paper on the topic of outcomes-based funding written by Dennis Jones for Complete College America. The first paper, "Performance Funding: From Idea to Action" (ED535356), proposed a set of design and implementation principles to help states develop and implement their own outcomes-based funding models. The second paper,…

Near the shores of Lake Superior, Michigan's Houghton-Portage Township School District is known for academic leadership and strives to provide an exceptional and secure learning environment for its students. However, like many districts around the country, Houghton-Portage is not immune to the economic restrictions. In a recent effort to address…

In communities nationwide, public charter schools are meeting the growing demand for high-quality education opportunities. This is especially true in communities with underperforming public district schools that are not meeting the academic needs of students, including poor and minority students. Forty states and the District of Columbia have laws…

Kalamazoo's administrators undergo a multi-component evaluation based essentially on performance objectives. The results are directly reflected in each administrator's pay raise or lack of one. (Author/WM)

Explains the attitude of the Kalamazoo Board towards staff accountability and presents a copy of the contract with its current superintendent. (WM)

Reading achievement of students in second to sixth grade in three school districts participating in a performance-contracting program was tested, using the Stanford Achievement Test and the Metropolitan Achievement Test, at the beginning and the end of the school year. The performance contract for each of the districts included a…

Kalamazoo has demonstrated that a comprehensive, performance-based system of administrator evaluation and accountability can work wonders. (Author/WM)

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, teachers are evaluated on how well they and their students perform. Kalamazoo schools have probably one of the most comprehensive computerized systems of personnel evaluation and accountability yet devised. (Author/WM)

The Kalamazoo school system has developed for its instructional staff a series of accountability schemes collectively referred to as the Instructional Staff Performance Profiles (ISPP). They presently include performance profiles for teachers, secondary instructional specialists, secondary academic specialists, elementary instructional…

This report evaluates the Grand Rapids Public School (GRPS) experience with performance contracting. The report describes the first two years of the GRPS performance contracting experience, assesses the accomplishments of those two years, and describes the third year (1972-73) program. The author concludes that the contracts were successful and…

Describes the Supervised Independent Living Orientation Program (Michigan), which provides a transition into relatively unstructured independent living to adolescents and youths with a history of behavioral and emotional disturbances, including delinquency and psychiatric hospitalization. Discusses contracts used in the program. (BB)

In an effort to reward excellence and discourage mediocrity, an accountability-based salary system has been implemented for all administrators in the Kalamazoo school system. Administrator salaries are adjusted for performance and/or reclassification reasons. Judgments of performance are based on the extent to which an administrator achieves…

A list of behavioral objectives to be achieved by the Kalamazoo school system was drawn up for the period May 1, 1972 to June 30, 1973. Items in the list were designed to show the top priority directions for the school system and to serve as accountability criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the present administration. The objectives…

A list of behavioral objectives to be achieved by the Kalamazoo school system was drawn up for the period 1973-74. Items in the list were designed to show the top priority directions for the school system and to serve as accountability criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the present administration. Accountability is conceived in terms of…

This study of performance contracting was made in 1974-75. It differs from other studies in that it is based on a comprehensive body of data, including information about state-supported contracts in Michigan and California; it is focused on the role of monetary incentives in education rather than on the particular instructional programs; it made a…