This "Informed Educator" examines the issue of performance pay for teachers. Research looking for a possible link between performance pay and student learning is examined, and implementation issues are addressed. Finally, the need to broaden the discussion of performance pay to a more comprehensive review that explicitly connects the structure of…

During the past few years, interest in shifting at least a portion of what teachers are paid away from a reliance on a traditional salary schedule to one that incorporates a pay for performance component has reached a new high. Proponents of the approach view it as a way to improve teacher quality by both motivating teachers and--through higher…

This "Informed Educator" looks at recent research on teacher opinions about their working conditions to address the question "what matters to teachers?" District and school leaders can use this information to strengthen their efforts to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and, in addition, better support teacher efforts to educate students.…

How much were school business officials being paid during the 2009-2010 school year? How do their salaries compare with those of other administrators, with those of classroom teachers, and with increases in the cost of living? In this article, the authors provide school business officials with information to address these and related questions.…

Much of the conversation in recent years about how to attract and retain high-quality teachers has focused on salaries--how much teachers are paid, the possibilities of differentiated pay scales, and pay for performance. But it has become increasingly clear that teachers take much more than salary into account when tallying up working conditions.…

It's up to school leaders to shift the momentum away from conversations based on misperceptions and toward those that study critical issues about school improvement. "Crucial Conversations About America's Schools" talks about how to do this and provides examples of how to reframe conversations on the hot-button but important topics of…

This 1997-98 survey reports $82,339 as the mean of the average salaries paid to assistant superintendents and $67,724 as the mean of the average salaries paid to directors of finance and business in (responding) U.S. school systems. Generally, the annual salaries for chief business officials have kept pace with those of classroom teachers and…

For the past 9 years, a study conducted by the Educational Research Service has provided a consistent and reliable means for comparing local school budgets throughout the nation. Three figures and 2 tables provide summary data. The last table shows an analysis with 48 separate budget categories that administrators can use to compare their budgets.…

Since 1980, Educational Research Service has conducted extensive surveys of school district revenues and expenditures. National and regional revenues are displayed in three figures and two tables. For comparative purposes, a table of 48 separate budget categories with per pupil expenditure and percent of current expenditures is provided. (MLF)

This document provides information about staffing patterns within U.S. public-school systems for use by education leaders, policymakers, and community members. This information, presented for the 2001-02 school year, answers questions, such as Why is information about staffing ratios important? How many people currently work in public schools? and…

Summarized in this report are the responses of the 1,222 public school teachers who participated in the 1987 Educator Opinion Poll (43 percent of the national sample). The survey instrument included both questions eliciting the opinions of teachers and questions about their status and experiences. Opinion questions covered such topics as the lead…

This annual survey presents salary and wage data on 23 professional and 10 support positions in the following categories: central office administrators, school building-level personnel, classroom teachers, auxiliary professional personnel, and support personnel. The positions selected represent the full scope of public-school employment. The data…