Pay for performance studies show . . .

I found this article on Education Week of interest because of all the clamor for performance pay models and the recent release of the districts in our state that will pilot a new state evaluation model. The article shares a research report that can be found here. The study found that a performance-based compensation model planned when current Education Secretary Duncan was superintendent in Chicago showed no evidence of boosting achievement in reading or math.

It is interesting because he and President Obama have been supportive of this and other models. There is also significant revenue being given to systems to implement the model.
Please know that there is at least one other study of the Teacher Advancement Program using a different design that showed positive effects at the elementary level. Critics of the study are also finding other issues in how the model was implemented and compensation awarded to question the results.

A Chicago spokesperson shared the following.

“The report acknowledges that programs such as TAP take time to change attitudes and alter a school’s culture,” he said. “Measurables such as test scores and teacher retention might be better thought of as longer-term or final outcomes.”

And, from the federal department we get this response.

“We know TAP and other reforms are hard work. We can’t expect immediate results,” said Peter Cunningham, a spokesman for the federal Education Department. “That’s why we’re committed to evaluating programs over the long term and identifying ones that deliver the results for children.”

I don’t want to debate the findings or merits of the TAP program. That is for others to do. I have shared on earlier posts that I favor using student achievement data to hold ourselves accountable, but I am struggling with how to do that in all of the classrooms our young engage in learning. We need to have schools and districts creating and testing models, but we should not be throwing money out there when there is little data to suggest that it makes a difference or that much more must be learned. See these articles here, and here, and here. To provide some balance, here is an international one that suggests it can work.

Instead of focusing on a model or even a few, we should be encouraging the development of many, studying the results over time, and then supporting implementation of those that experience success. Support will be critical because of the cultural changes that will be required. We know from previous change efforts not nearly as comprehensive as this, that simply taking a model that works in one place to another will not result in success without guidance and support over time. So, given all this I do not believe that we need to jump on this ship. We have our own journey and the first leg is to align our evaluation model with the Classroom 10 documents.