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  • From: Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Education, better pay for teachers in Minnesota
  • Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 15:12:18 -0700

For measured better results, and factored-in bad conditions, not just seniority.


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Paying for better teachers

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is contin uing his efforts to bring sanity to his state's teacher pay practices - and he now has a former Cleveland educator as an ally.

Pawlenty sought last year to pay top-tier teachers $100,000 a year and award bonuses to those whose students made major test score gains, but was thwarted by the legislature. This time, he's launching a pilot program involving a small southeastern school district and three Minneapolis schools. Thandiwe Peebles, a former regional superintendent in Cleveland, now leads the Minneapolis public schools and appeared at Pawlenty's press conference.

The state is spending more than $5 million to pilot the Teacher Advancement Program, a model that combines intensive teacher training and mentoring with performance-based pay. Developed and run through the Milken Family Foundation, TAP now operates in eight states and more than five-dozen schools across the country. Although TAP is fairly new, early research has indicated significant reading and math gains in its schools, as compared to scores from control schools. So far, no Ohio district has adopted the model, although the president of the Cincinnati teachers union has expressed interest in exploring it.

Traditional compensation systems give teachers more money for their years of service and advanced degrees, but provide no rewards for teachers who make measurable differences in the amount students learn. Nor do they provide incentives for teachers who work in particularly difficult schools or in hard-to-staff specialties. In short, a teacher who does no more than sit in front of the class and read a newspaper all day gets the same pay as one who labors tirelessly to develop creative lessons, improve teaching style and assist peers in doing the same.

Pawlenty recognizes that this approach makes no sense, and actually drives away some of the profession's most talented instructors. He deserves credit for keeping his focus on excellence in teaching despite earlier setbacks.






  • [Homestead] Education, better pay for teachers in Minnesota, Tvoivozhd, 09/23/2004

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