Spotlights

The Center for Educator Compensation Reform (CECR) met with all 34 Teacher Incentive Fund grantees on June 5–6, 2008, in Bethesda, Maryland. Grantees heard from experts and colleagues about topics such as measuring the performance of teachers of nontested subjects and grades as well as teachers of English language learners and students with disabilities; value-added initiatives; teacher observations; and program sustainability. CECR staff also hosted focus groups with grantees to share the center's redesigned website and acquire feedback about it and its resources. Lastly, grantees heard from U.S. Department of Education representatives, connected with CECR monitors and technical assistance representatives, and engaged in project team conversations with other program staff. A copy of the meeting agenda and meeting materials are available.

The National Center on Performance Incentives (NCPI), a research and development center funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, hosted a national research-to-policy conference titled Performance Incentives: Their Growing Impact on American K–12 Education on February 28–29, 2008. Educator compensation reform scholars from across the country gathered at Vanderbilt University to share research and ideas to help policymakers recognize the potential strengths of alternative pay programs as well as address many of the key conceptual and implementation ideas that have dominated the debate. To read the conference papers, please visit the NCPI website.

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced Phase II of the Teacher Incentive Fund grantees. A total of 18 awards valued at $38.2 million will be made to various schools districts, states, and nonprofit organizations around the country. Read more

To learn more about the Phase I TIF Grantees, please visit the individual project profiles.