Teacher Incentive Fund Grantee Profiles

Ohio Teacher Incentive Fund

Ohio proposes a statewide system of rewarding teachers and school leaders for high levels of performance and solid achievement with competitive compensation and career opportunities. The Ohio Teacher Incentive Fund (OTIF) will provide opportunities for teacher development, differentiated leadership roles, and incentive pay.

Location(s) Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo, and Cleveland, Ohio

Award Date November 2006

Grant Amount
Five-year total: $20,223,270

Duration 5 years

Partners Ohio Department of Education; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo city schools; and the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching

Needs Assessment Results and General Information
Statewide, Ohio struggles with teacher retention. In a state attrition study, data suggest that from 2001-2007 the state lost almost 31 percent of teachers within 5 years. In all four of the urban districts that will partici-pate in OTIF, the percent of students who received free and reduced-price lunch in 2006 was between 63.5 percent (Toledo) and 94.6 percent (Cleveland). The achievement gap in Ohio affects African-American children and economically disadvantaged students.

Background
OTIF will build on existing models, including the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) in Cincinnati and Columbus and the Toledo Review and Alternative Compensation System (TRACS). Cleveland will implement the Promoting Educator Advancement in Cleveland (PEAC), which was rolled out in September 2007. Under OTIF, state standards will be established for teacher and principal evaluation systems that (1) ensure that evaluations are fair, credible and evidence-based, include multiple measures of performance in both knowledge and skills, and are linked to student academic progress; (2) align with Ohio’s teacher and principal standards; and (3) suggest professional development to enhance future performance in areas that are not meeting expectations. These standards will then serve as benchmarks for the design, development, and implementation of evaluation and compensation systems in districts across the state. Principal evaluation guidelines have been created and are being piloted in our four OTIF districts, as well as in nine other districts.

Incentives
In TAP schools, teachers are compensated for their teaching skills, additional responsibilities, and student learning. In the TRACS system, teachers are rewarded when they (1) collaboratively succeed in significantly raising student achievement; (2) assume additional curriculum, instructional, and school improvement responsibilities and leadership; and (3) volunteer for placement in difficult teaching assignments and demonstrate improved results in student achievement.

TAP in Cincinnati and Columbus provides awards from a pool created annually: $2,000 per educator to provide performance payouts based on demonstrated knowledge and skills. Under TRACS-B/CTIS-B, incentives for teachers and administrators tied to school performance include as much as $2,000 for meeting annual improvement goals (see Evaluation below); $2,000 if three of three goals are met and $1,000 if two of three goals are met. The teacher performance element of TRACS-C/CTIS-C provides a career ladder for teachers in three-status levels: career, accomplished, and distinguished. Incentives range from 5 to 15 percent of salary as teachers move up the ladder. The compensation amounts for Cleveland are still being negotiated and teachers are currently going through a qualification year.

Evaluation
Under TAP, teachers are observed as often as six times each year by several trained and certified evaluators. As part of the evaluation, the value-added gains the teacher produces, plus the school achievement gains from 1 year to the next, are incorporated. TRACS and PEAC support and enhance the continuous improvement process in which districts must set two academic and one related improvement goal (e.g., school attendance, graduation rate). Academic growth is measured by the percentage gains on the Ohio Performance Index or by meeting an increase in the number and percentage of Ohio grade card indicators achieved. Also, TRACS uses performance-based evaluation rubrics based on the national standards of effective instruction, as well as Danielson’s “Framework for Teaching.” The TRACS assessment system includes peer ratings, classroom observations, assessment of written communication skills, and a standards-based portfolio. In Cleveland, PEAC has a very similar system in place and over 90 staff are going through the qualification year. After Ohio recieved their award, a request for proposal was released, and in May 2007, Westat, an independent outside evaluator, was retained to both evaluate and document implementation and impact of the OTIF program.

Resources
State general revenue and Title II funds will provide matching funds for OTIF. The goal is to help districts become self sustaining.

Data Systems
The Ohio Assessment System aligns with state academic content standards for grades 3 to 8 in reading and math and with the Ohio Graduation Test for high school students. Value-added growth for all schools, a component of the state accountability system, will be included on the 2007-08 state and local report cards. Other short-term assessment systems are in place in the OTIF partnering districts. Data from various existing data management systems will be used to determine teacher and principal effectiveness for incentive eligibility.

Year 1 Program Activities and/or Outcomes
Ohio had a very productive year with OTIF. Columbus TAP schools expanded by five, and in Cincinnati, there are now four K–8 TAP buildings. Eight of the buildings in Cincinnati and Columbus are working towards a payout next fall. After completing a rather lengthy negotiation process, Cleveland ratified its union contract and PEAC was born, modeled after Toledo’s TRACS program. Toledo identifies a school improvement goal for its TRACS B objective and established an improvement target tied to the State’s Performance Index (increase of 13% on state performance index). Three schools met their improvement target. The Ohio Principal Evaluation Systems was developed with the help of practicing educators and stakeholders.

Outlook for Year 2
Ohio’s outlook is very optimistic. Its programs are all up and running. Wonderful skill development is being observed in Ohio’s TAP schools and some of their clusters are being filmed in December by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching. TRACS and PEAC have accepted more teachers for their qualification year; each district has set 3 goals for its TRAC/PEAC B portion. In each district, high quality professional development is going on with great frequency. Our Principals Evaluation is being piloted in 13 districts and 85 administrators are participating in this pilot of Principal Evaluation Guidelines. Ohio is hosting its first Summit in the end of January and will be discussing teachers as leaders and beginning to unpack systems reform and funding sources. Ohio is also the focus of a year long study which is being sponsored by the Joyce Foundation. The work is being titled “Lessons Learned from Ohio Teacher Incentive Funds Work in 4 Urban Districts.”

This page last updated on: January 17, 2008.