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t’s no secret that teaching is a demanding job, and despite the challenges of the profession, large compensation increases have typically been out of reach for educators. A statewide incentive program aims to change that for Texas’ most effective teachers. The Teacher Incentive Allotment, or TIA, was created in 2019 with the goal of providing top educators the opportunity to earn a six-figure salary. The program was established by House Bill 3, a comprehensive public school funding bill passed by the 86th Texas Legislature. Through the TIA, districts can receive funding allotments of $3,000-$32,000 per designated teacher. The amount of funding is based on the level of designation each teacher receives, with greater funds being allotted for teachers in high-need and rural districts. To date, more than 4,000 of the state’s roughly 360,000 public schoolteachers have been designated by the system, resulting in a payout of approximately $43 million to school districts across Texas. John York, chief human resource officer at Longview ISD, said the program has been “life changing” for teachers in his district, located in East Texas. The district currently has 82 designated teachers. Eleven of those teachers have achieved a six-figure salary for a 10-month contract. “It puts them on a playing field with other high-paying professions and allows teachers to stay in the classroom and receive high compensation,” said York. “Teachers feel valued and appreciated for the hard work they perform on a daily basis. It is a win-win situation for the students, district, and teachers.”
Measuring teacher effectiveness Grace Wu, director of strategic compensation at the Texas Education Agency (TEA), believes the incentive program could be a powerful part of a district’s recruitment and retention efforts. “One of the things we know is that teachers want to stay in a place where they feel valued, where they feel recognized, and where they feel they are continually growing,” said Wu. “TIA can be a great part of your human capital system because it will help to codify how the district is measuring teacher effectiveness. That really speaks to teachers knowing when they are doing well and what [areas] they need to grow in.” For this system to work, districts must be able to determine which teachers are most effective. Districts may opt to develop a local designation system that relies on both teacher observation and student growth data. Local designation systems must be reviewed and approved by the TEA. From start to finish, the process of establishing that local system takes about three years. Lubbock ISD was among the first districts in the state to submit a local designation system to TEA. The district currently has 86 designated teachers and hopes to double that number in the coming year. Lane Sobehrad, the district’s development coordinator, said the flexibility provided by the program means districts can rely on some of their current processes to develop a local designation system. “You’re required to have teacher
“It puts them on a playing field with other high-paying professions and allows teachers to stay in the classroom and receive high compensation,” said York. “Teachers feel valued and appreciated for the hard work they perform on a daily basis. It is a win-win situation for the students, district, and teachers.” appraisal and student growth measures, but even those are up to your district as to what you want to use to measure success,” said Sobehrad. “You get to pick the weighting, you get to pick what qualifies as a designated teacher, you get to pick your payout scheme and what teachers are eligible.” Amy Campbell, director of TASB HR Services, said data validation is often the most challenging part of creating a local designation system. For a system to be approved, the district must collect a year’s worth of data showing a correlation between student growth and teacher effectiveness. Drawing that line can be tricky. “Data need to correlate by teaching area, by campus, across the entire district,” said Campbell. “If I’m a big district with 100 elementary schools, I need to be sure that every principal in every elementary school is rating their teacher roughly equivalent, so I have to spend a lot of time calibrating those raters.” For districts that find this process too cumbersome, there is another route to receiving incentive funds. Teachers may also achieve TIA designation through National Board Certification. Campbell believes this route may be more desirable for many districts because it eliminates the structural work of creating a local designation system. “It doesn’t require overhaul of the teacher appraisals in the district, and it doesn’t require figuring out student growth measures for everyone,” said Campbell. “It is on that individual teacher to achieve that certification and earn the allocation accordingly.” Although this option is easier for districts, it can be a challenge for educators. National Board Certification is a rigorous professional development pathway that typically requires two years to complete. Many districts use a portion of the TIA allotment funds to provide support for educators pursuing National Board Certification. Approximately 3% of teachers across the country are National Board Certified. In Texas, this number dips to .3%, representing roughly a thousand teachers across the state. Sobehrad likens the National Board Certification process to achieving a graduate certificate for educators. He said Lubbock ISD does its best to provide the resources these teachers need to be successful. The district uses some of its TIA allotment funds to sponsor a district-run cohort for edu-
texaslonestaronline.org | March 2022 | Texas Lone Star 9