Welcome

In this week’s CommenTerry, I discuss
House Bill 546, a bill that would allow the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS)
to establish a performance-pay program. Should the public give CMS
administrators a chance or have they already blown it? 

Bulletin Board

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CommenTerry

The pay-for-performance plan spearheaded by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS)
superintendent Peter Gorman has been subject to vocal criticism by CMS
teachers, parents, and national pundits including Diane Ravitch and Washington
Post blogger Valerie Strauss. Many critics echoed Strauss’ complaint
that "linking student test scores to teachers’ grades is plain
unfair," while others objected to the cost ($2 million), scope (52 tests
from kindergarten through 12th grade), debatable test questions, and seemingly
haphazard implementation of the plan.

Last week, Carolina Journal‘s Karen Welsh reported
that even stalwart proponents of performance pay — myself included — had
serious concerns about the CMS initiative. Before I detail those concerns,
however, it is necessary to draw a distinction between the performance-pay plan
and the legislation that would authorize it. Indeed, I believe that some
critics of the plan have misdirected their frustration at Representative Ruth
Samuelson, one of the primary sponsors of House
Bill 546: Alternative Salary Plans for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School
District. In general, HB 546 allows CMS to do what
every school district should have the flexibility to do, namely use their
education dollars to reward the best teachers. The bill does not mandate that
CMS use the specific assessment system that administrators are field-testing.
It gives Superintendent Peter Gorman and his staff flexibility to implement the
performance-pay program as they see fit. As such, CMS’s top brass own this initiative.

Superintendent Gorman and I agree that performance pay is a worthwhile
end. In his April 7 "Pay for Performance Update," Gorman correctly
identifies many of the systemic problems perpetuated by North Carolina’s
antiquated teacher compensation system, which uniformly reward teachers based
on hollow credentials and years of experience. As Gorman points out, "we
have a system in which the top teachers are paid only marginally more than the
least effective teachers and in many subjects, they are actually paid
less." This is unacceptable. Thus, I laud his recognition of the fact that
CMS must change the way it recruits, retains, and compensates high-performing
teachers.

Yet Dr. Gorman and I disagree on means. I believe that the state’s EVAAS
(Education Value-Added Assessment System) — a data system, currently available
to all North Carolina school districts, that measures student growth on North
Carolina End of Grade (EOG) and End of Course (EOC) tests — is a reliable and
cost-effective tool that could be used to reward excellent reading and math
teachers. It is appropriate to focus performance-pay efforts on these teachers
because they have the added burden of preparing students for a battery of state
and federal tests.

If district leaders seek to expand the initiative to non-EOG or EOC subjects,
they can employ one of a number of field-tested, norm-referenced tests available
from a reputable testing company, such as Pearson Assessments or Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt. There is no
need for district administrators to reinvent the wheel by field-testing and
refining new assessments, a process that takes staff at the NC Department of
Public Instruction four years to complete for state EOG and EOC tests.

Regardless of the academic subjects covered, school administrators should find
ways to limit interruptions to classroom instruction, minimize the amount of
time used to assess students, and administer performance-pay testing after the completion of state testing. District leaders
should also finds ways to include meaningful qualitative measures, such as
surveys, interviews, and teacher evaluations, in their performance-pay
structure.

Like many, I am very concerned about CMS’s inability, perhaps unwillingness, to
persuade parents, teachers, and the public that their performance-pay program
warrants their support. Specifically, the district administrators have done
little to change the perception that it is another force-fed, top-down
initiative concocted by administrators who have too much time on their hands.
Even the CMS school board has failed to advance the dialogue on the program. A
member of the CMS school board recently commented that
Karen Welsh’s Carolina Journal article belonged in fringe publications like The Onion and Weekly World News.

Compared with CMS representatives, Rep. Samuelson
and her co-sponsors have done a far better job responding to the concerns of
stakeholders. As a response to the various concerns voiced by the public,
Samuelson plans to "park"
the bill and bring everyone to the table to find a reasonable compromise. I
support this idea. After all, there is a lot at stake. If CMS does not
implement a successful performance-pay program, it will be very difficult for
any school system in North Carolina to garner support for one in the future.

Random Thought

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8. Begin
planning now, ladies and gentlemen.

Facts
and Stats

Four keys to a successful performance-pay program:

  • Communication
  • Buy-in
  • Fairness
  • Comprehensiveness

Source: Lasagna, M., Executive
Summary: Lessons Learned from the Center for Educator Compensation Reform’s First
10 Case Summaries, Center for Educator Compensation Reform, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Washington, D.C.,
2010.

Mailbag

I would like to invite all readers to
submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns,
and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish
selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be
honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].

Education Acronym of the Week

TIF — Teacher
Incentive Fund

Quote of the Week

"Too many supporters of my party have resisted the idea of rewarding
excellence in teaching with extra pay."
— President Barack Obama, address to the Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce, March 2009

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Update archive.