- Ector County Independent School District
- ECISD Teacher Incentive Allotment
TIA-ECISD Teacher Incentive Allotment
ECISD Teacher Incentive Allotment
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In the 86th Legislative Session, HB 3 provided funds for districts in Texas to apply for funding through the TIA. The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) provides funding to pay highly effective teachers whose students show measurable improvement in academic growth. District leaders began investigating this program in November 2019. A Steering Committee, consisting of teachers, campus leadership, and district leadership, came together in two separate working sessions: Ambition, Intent, and Commitment. Considering this is a new opportunity and fairly new in Texas, the District brought in consulting teams who have assisted districts implementing differentiated compensation models. We are working with Best in Class and NIET (National Institute for Excellence in Teaching) through this process. During these working sessions, the Steering Committee made decisions and recommendations that have been used by the application team working on the application.
The Texas Education Agency has developed criteria for the components of the TIA and has selected the College of Education at Texas Tech University to assist in the selection of districts. This is a rigorous process for districts to gain approval for TIA funding. Teacher evaluations, observations, and student outcomes must align. Our design is to have an equitable opportunity for ALL teachers, create a culture of excellence, improve student achievement, and be transparent. This process must be valid and applied consistently across all evaluations. For these reasons, the District is working with and will be guided by NIET to build a plan that involves rigorous training and calibration of the teacher evaluation process. We will continue to use T-TESS, as the Steering Committee recommended, and re-evaluate the training and calibration of the evaluation process.
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Why is Ector County ISD applying for the Teacher Incentive Allotment?
As a school district, we want to reward highly effective teachers who get results. Our school district currently ranks near the bottom of the State of Texas in academic achievement. It is essential that we ensure our students are learning from great teachers, and our teachers have told us they are ready to do great things and break out of the status quo. Finally, we believe it is important to provide the opportunity for highly effective teachers to earn more without having to leave the classroom.
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Who is eligible for the Teacher Incentive Allotment?
Our goal in 3-5 years is for all teachers to have the opportunity to participate in the Teacher Incentive Allotment. In our initial application, we are including the following: Pre-Kindergarten English Language Arts/Reading (ELAR) and Math, K-8 ELAR and Math, English I, English II, and Algebra I. If we are approved, we will have the opportunity to apply to expand the grade levels and/or content areas on the following year. In order to involve more teachers and expand the reach of the TIA, we will create teams of teachers not included in the first application to help determine ways to measure student growth.
As noted above, ECISD’s Teacher Incentive Allotment will be phased-in over a period of years. This innovative approach to differentiate compensation is designed to direct additional pay to teachers who qualify for the three tiers:
- Master – Top 5% of the state
- Exemplary – Top 20% of the state
- Recognized / National Board Certification – Top 1/3 of the state
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What are the growth measures?
ECISD’s goal is to reward excellent teachers who show evidence that students who are enrolled in their classroom grow academically. In order to do that, we must use a system that accurately measures growth and performance. ECISD had engaged in extensive research on assessment systems and found NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessments precisely measure growth and performance. MAP Growth assessments measure what students know and what they are ready to learn next. The system creates a personalized assessment experience that accurately measures performance – whether a student performs on, above, or below grade level. Most importantly, MAP Growth reveals how much growth has occurred between testing events, such as Beginning of Year, Middle of Year, and End of Year assessments. Educators can track growth throughout the school year and track growth over multiple years. Subjects we will assess using NWEA MAP Growth include K-8 ELAR and Math, Algebra I and English I and II. Spanish assessments K-2 in Reading and Math.
ECISD also plans to phase in STAAR and EOC growth progress measures for Reading and Math in 4-8 grade ELAR and Math and Algebra I and EOC English II. However, due to the COVID-19 school closure and the elimination of STAAR/EOC in 2020, we will phase in the STAAR EOC growth progress measure in year two. We need two years of state assessments in order to calculate the student growth measure for reading and math. We will eventually include state assessments into the overall calculation.
ECISD will use the Circle assessment for Pre-kindergarten children. Growth will be measured by comparing the growth between the Beginning of Year and End of Year testing events.
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What criteria will be used to select teachers?
During the 2020-2021 school year, data will be collected for an overall rating. The three data components used for the overall rating are: T-Tess Observation Ratings- 30%, Student Growth - 60%, and Campus Growth- 10%. Once the data is compiled and submitted, teachers will be ranked in comparison to other teachers in the state. Teachers who fall into at least the top 1/3 in the state will be given a designation and funds will be awarded during the 2022-2023 school year.
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What is the amount of the additional compensation?
TEA designates that at least 90% of the funds received will be spent on teacher compensation on the campuses where the designated teacher works. Each campus is designated as Tier 1,2,3,4, or 5 according to the percentage of economically disadvantaged students enrolled. The funds available for designations are:
- Master Level $12,000 - $32,000
- Exemplary Level $9,000 - $18,000
- Recognized Level $3,000 - $9,000.
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What is the timeline?
A series of explanatory videos will be produced and placed on the Human Resource website by May 1. This document and the videos will allow all stakeholders to learn more about the District’s plan, and then a staff survey will be distributed for feedback. The deadline to submit the application to TEA is May 15, 2020. The data capture year is 2020-2021. The District will receive determination of system approval in Spring 2022. If we receive approval, the initial state funding flows to the District in the Spring 2022 or Fall 2022.
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Who do I contact if I have questions?
Refer to the Teacher Incentive Allotment link on the HR Website.