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.

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

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

Refer to the Teacher Incentive Allotment link on the HR Website.

Robin Fawcett at robin.fawcett@ectorcountyisd.org