Principals need more observation time, clearer metrics for performance pay success

A system meant to reward teachers for improving student performance and taking on tough teaching assignments in struggling schools was at the center of the dispute that led to last week’s teachers' strike against Denver Public Schools.The Denver Classroom Teachers Association, which was part of the initial design of ProComp, argued that it had become too complicated, that it was difficult to make the connection between actions and rewards, and that teachers have a hard time predicting their annual income. As housing has grown more expensive in Denver, teachers have also come to prefer overall increases in salary instead of one-time bonuses.But research on ProComp and similar pay-for-performance systems shows principals also have an important role in whether such systems are successful — especially if bonuses or raises are tied to teacher evaluation and feedback systems. According to the National Council on Teacher Quality’s 2018 analysis of 124 large districts in the country, 51 have a system in which an annual salary increase, which becomes a permanent part of the teacher’s pay, or an annual bonus, which has to be re-earned each year, is tied in some way to the teacher’s performance.