Fuzzy-math logic derails merit-pay plan; Florida Department of Education Unveils "Effectiveness Compensation" Plan for Teachers

This was such an obviously dopey Op Ed in the Orlando Sentinel that I Googled the actual Effectiveness Compensation proposal (see below), which of course bears little resemblance to what is described in the hatchet job Op Ed. 

 

The Effectiveness Comp plan says that teachers in the top 10% will be identified by GAINS in student achievement (not absolute levels) and be rewarded with a 5% pay bonus.  Incredible how such a simply and obvious proposal generates such hysterical opposition.  I guess if you're the longshoremans' (ooops, I mean teachers') union, ANYTHING that results in ANY union member being paid even a tiny bit more than any other for reasons other then seniority is anathema...

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Fuzzy-math logic derails merit-pay plan

Bill Archer

February 14, 2006, Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-myword1406feb14,0,2074229.story?coll=orl-opinion-headlines

It seems that Florida Education Commissioner John Winn is afflicted with the same myopic view of public education from which Gov. Jeb Bush suffers. Both hope to foist a nifty-sounding program called "Effectiveness Compensation" that ties teacher salaries to their students' performance on the FCAT onto public education's already beleaguered teachers.

Winn calls this program "the strongest model in the nation" for performance-based pay for teachers.

If they succeed in pulling off this devious plan, they will have destroyed the fairest method of paying teachers that now exists: salaries tied to years of service. And that is their real goal. It is just another attack on the unions that negotiate salaries for teachers and the teachers themselves, who are underpaid and overworked.

Performance-based salary is a good theory if you are selling cars, insurance policies or production units in which the one who sells the most gets a bonus because he or she has made a huge profit for the company. But it doesn't work in public education. Why?

Students are not uniform units that enter classrooms. One teacher may find herself in a class with 15 regular students and five Exceptional Education students with varying exceptionalities. Another teacher may have a class of 15 Exceptional Education students and five below-grade-level students who have been administratively assigned to that grade.

One teacher may have an entire class of gifted/talented students, all with IQs of 130 (plus or minus 3 points), who look at the FCAT as just an inconvenient interruption of their usual routine of higher level learning.

Either increase teacher salaries across the board to retain them and entice new teachers to come into the profession, because Florida needs 32,000 new teachers next year, or face even greater losses of teachers.

A simpler bonus plan would be to give each student in a class a placement test at the beginning of the year and a post-test at the end of the year. Give the teacher $100 for each subject in which the child has improved at the end of the year. Let's see: There's math, reading, writing, science and social studies. A teacher could earn $500 for each student in class who improves. Twenty students showing improvement could earn a teacher $10,000 in merit or bonus pay and not even include the mysterious FCAT results in the bargain.

This bonus money, combined with a teacher's salary step, would provide real retention and increase recruitment. It would be the "strongest model in the nation" if it weren't for guys like Bush and Winn.

They don't believe teachers or students are worth that kind of investment.

Bill Archer of Daytona Beach is a counselor with Volusia County Schools.

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http://www.fldoe.org/news/2006/2006_02_10.asp

Florida Department of Education Unveils "Effectiveness Compensation" Plan for Teachers

TALLAHASSEE — Education Commissioner John L. Winn and K-12 Public Schools Chancellor Cheri Pierson Yecke today unveiled Florida's "E-Comp," or "Effectiveness Compensation," plan, which awards high-performing teachers with annual bonuses based on the academic progress of their students. The "E-Comp" plan is an addition to Florida's existing multi-faceted program for rewarding educational excellence through individual teacher and school recognitions.

"Traditionally, teachers are paid based on their level of education and years of experience, neither of which result in significantly higher student learning," said Commissioner Winn. "If we are to attract and keep the best and brightest teachers, then we must reward excellence in what matters most – student learning. As it is with any other profession, compensation for teachers should be based, in part, on their results, talent and expertise."

The "E-Comp" plan consists of two parts, including a requirement that all Florida teachers must have a portion of their salary based on their students' learning gains. In addition, the plan calls for those teachers who are recognized as outstanding to receive a bonus of five percent of their salary. An outstanding teacher is one that does the best job of improving student achievement.

Outstanding teachers are identified in two ways:

• For those teachers who teach subjects tested by a statewide assessment, the state will identify the top 10 percent of all teachers statewide at the elementary, middle, and high schools levels based upon their students' achievement gains over the previous year. Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, these outstanding teachers will receive a bonus of five percent of their base salary.
• For those teachers who do not teach subjects tested by a statewide assessment, individual school districts will develop a system for identifying teachers who are considered outstanding based upon their students' learning gains. No later than the 2007-08 school year, these teachers will also be rewarded with a bonus equal to five percent of their base salary.

A newly-created website, www.firn.edu/doe/profdev/reward/index.htm, provides additional information on the "E-Comp" plan. Included is a summary of the plan, answers to frequently asked questions, a chart comparing teacher reward strategies implemented in other states, reactions to the "E-Comp" plan from national experts and comprehensive information on other reward programs already available to Florida teachers.

Currently, Florida rewards teachers in a number of ways, including awards that honor outstanding educators, such as the Teacher of the Year and Milken awards; bonuses for earning advanced degrees and national certification; and bonuses based on performance determined by the number of students a teacher has who have earned specific scores on the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams.

"The 'E-Comp' plan completes Florida's array of existing rewards programs by recognizing individual teachers for students' academic growth," said Chancellor Yecke. "Many of these teachers are beating the odds, helping their students exceed their learning gains expectations, and in some cases, helping some of our most struggling students succeed."

Since July 2002, Florida law has required that a portion of every teacher's pay be based on student achievement, and school administrators and instructional personnel who demonstrate outstanding performance must be awarded a bonus of five percent of their individual salary. The "E-Comp" plan provides school districts with a minimum framework for meeting this law. Districts are encouraged to reward more high-performing teachers than required by law.

As currently prescribed by law, the "E-Comp" plan will be funded by the school districts' Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) allocations. The Department of Education will request additional funding for the 2006-07 fiscal year to further support the program.