Alternative Teacher Compensation Systems

A look at existing emerging alternative approaches to the single-salary teacher compensation structure found in most school districts in Canada

This review of existing teacher compensation models provides school administrators with a research-based approach for developing a compensation system that attracts and retains high-quality teachers.

This book discusses various pay and compensation initiatives in use nationwide, highlighting: (1) How Are Teachers Compensated?" (current status of teacher compensation and the changing context of teaching); (2) "What Have We Learned from Attempts at Change?" (three approaches to compensating teachers, recent short-lived reform efforts, and other factors supporting compensation reform); (3) "The Elements of Pay and Compensation" (traditional pay, new approaches to pay, pay for behaviors or outcomes, and benefits as part of compensation); (4) "What Is the Relationship between Pay and Motivation?" (theories of motivation, implications of motivation theories for compensation, applications to education, and compensation factors motivating teachers); (5) "Rewarding Individual Teachers for Developing and Deploying Needed Knowledge and Skills" (knowledge- and skill-based pay and examples of such pay structures); (6) "School Bonuses for Improved Student Performance" (group-based performance awards, examples of performance awards, and gain-sharing programs); (7) "Designing and Implementing Alternative Teacher Compensation Systems" (compensation and school improvement, three design strategies, and stakeholder roles); and (8) "Compensation To Enhance Teacher Quality and Supply" (staffing and compensation challenges, issues, and innovations). Two resources present generic models of knowledge- and skill-based pay and principles for implementing change in compensation. (Contains approximately 335 references.) (SM)

This presentation is based on the following principles: 1. The key accountability for schools is to improve student performance. 2. Teachers in the classroom (including those in hard-to-staff fields such as math and special education) and their instructional practice are the single most important factors that will lead to improved student performance. 3. Teacher compensation is the single biggest part of the education budget (often more than 60%). 4. Therefore, linking pay to teacher performance â instructional practice that produces student learning gains is the best way to expend money in a way that ultimately improves student performance. This book shows how the connections among those principles are playing. [Web, ed].

This book identifies good practices in the design and implementation of evaluation and teacher incentive systems from various perspectives through formulation, stakeholder negotiation, implementation, monitoring and follow-up.

The go-to resource for school board members’ greatest challenges! This invaluable guide addresses the top challenges experienced by nearly every school board, and shows how professional learning can support positive change throughout a school system. Effective for individual study or group learning, this resource helps board members to: Learn from case studies focused on 12 critical board-level decisions, including hiring a new superintendent, resource allocation, compensation planning, and more Know when, where, and how to use professional learning to improve individual and districtwide performance Benefit from best practices and tools developed to support effective decisions and successful implementation of major initiatives