The purpose of this Program is to provide school district leaders with a design and implementation guide to create an ACE initiative in their district. This Program is not meant to be the only resource required to successfully implement an ACE initiative, which requires a significant amount of local context and adaptation. However, the contents that follow provide leaders with an overview of the detailed elements of the ACE program, how it has been implemented in districts to date, and key lessons learned that can support other district leaders in implementing ACE successfully.

This Program was designed by Best in Class, a partnership between Communities Foundation of Texas and the Commit Partnership, dedicated to attracting, preparing, developing, and retaining excellent teachers and school leaders for every child. Best in Class provides technical assistance to many of the ACE districts referenced in this Program. Please contact info@bestinclass.org if you would like more information and/or support for ACE implementation.

The Toolkit is organized into four phases of implementation. Each phase has action steps or decision points. You can navigate to these steps on the lefthand menu or following along with your progress above. These programs were designed to be used in conjunction with one another. If you are looking to switch between toolkits you may access those on the right hand side. When you toggle between toolkits you will be placed in the corresponding Phase and Step.

Each Program’s step has information to help implement including:

• Recommendations and best practices for how to implement the action step thoughtfully, with particular emphasis on change management strategies.
• Lessons learned to strengthen implementation and adjust when things don’t go according to plan, with a particular focus on change management.
• Vignettes and case studies to illustrate the recommendations and lessons learned in action and in a variety of contexts.
• In addition, the ACE community tab offers additional information for ACE campuses, including resources related to convenings/ community of practice meetings.

If you need additional help implementing the ACE program you can click on the lefthand menu at any Phase or Step to access contact information and a review of how to navigate the program dashboard.

Results from the ACE program have been promising. Over the first four years (2015-2019), of the ACE initiative, 28 of 29 campuses:

• Met state accountability standards in Year One, in most cases following multiple consecutive years of failure.
• Achieved increases in student growth upwards of 67% in math and 40% in reading.
• Significantly reduced district gaps in achievement, discipline referrals and suspensions.

The key ingredients to these wins are effective school leaders and teachers. They are game changers for students.

See how teachers in the Richardson ISD are focused on improving student outcomes:

Data shows that the Texas public education system is inequitable, both in student outcomes and student experiences. Economically disadvantaged students within the Dallas-Fort Worth region and across the state have similar academic outcomes, regardless of the overall affluence of the school district they attend. In some cases, the gap in student outcomes between economically disadvantaged students and their more affluent peers, even within a single school district or campus, can approach 40 percentage points.

One of the most important strategies for overcoming the achievement gap is ensuring that great, effective educators are fairly and equitably allocated across campuses and classrooms. But districts often don’t know who the great teachers are. Human capital systems in many school districts do not effectively differentiate between effective and ineffective teachers, despite real differences in areas of strong and weak teaching practices and, most importantly, in student achievement gains. In the Widget Effect, national research found little differential in teacher evaluations, with less than 1% of teachers receiving unsatisfactory ratings. Current systems make it difficult to both identify exceptional teachers and determine how teachers need to improve.

Further, we don’t incentivize our best teachers to teach in challenging, critical roles in high-need schools. Within traditional seniority-based compensation systems, there is no financial incentive for an effective educator to take on a more challenging role in an underperforming school because compensation is tied to years of experience and not the effort required for classroom success. As a result, more affluent schools and districts tend to have better prepared, more effective teachers. Those schools also tend to keep teachers longer and employ fewer novice teachers, which usually results in greater student outcomes.

• Full reconstitution of existing campus leadership teams and staff.
• Identifying the most effective principals within a district to lead ACE campuses.
• Financial incentives for teachers and school leaders ranging between $10K-$15K per year for three years.
• A cap on the number of teachers (4) who can leave the same campus to join the staff of an ACE campus.
• Intentional focus on data-driven instruction and data analysis at the student, content and grade levels.
• After school enrichment opportunities and nutritional health (breakfast, lunch and dinner) without eligibility requirements or cost to students.

ACE has been replicated quickly with great results across multiple districts and in both elementary and middle schools. It is not a “silver bullet” that will instantly improve student achievement, but with effective leadership and thoughtful implementation, ACE can transform schools so they better serve each and every student.

ACE’s short-term goal is to ensure that students of the highest need have the most effective educators coupled with a nurturing environment that supports the “whole child.” The long-range goal is to establish a way for district leaders to continually identify the teachers and leaders who have a track record of growing student learning, compensate educators making the biggest impact on student achievement more, grow all teachers and leaders, and strategically staff schools with the best-fit educators.

ACE is an equity-focused initiative, ensuring that students with the greatest need have access to effective educators, data-driven instruction, enrichment opportunities, social and emotional learning supports and community involvement. It includes implementing five core components . (as mentioned in Phase 1, Step 1), on a school campus that can lead to significant results. This section will help districts explore the initiative and assess their need and readiness.

When district leaders are considering the ACE initiative, it is important that they reflect on the level of need of the district, meaning the number of schools that would benefit from the model, and the level of readiness to implement the initiative, meaning whether the conditions are in place or could be in place to ensure successful implementation. By completing and discussing the self-assessment below, district leaders can better understand whether the district will benefit from ACE, and what the steps are to move forward.

Best in Class is also available to discuss additional details regarding the ACE initiative and implementation supports available with districts. To develop a customized support plan to provide districts and community partners the aforementioned services, Best in Class uses tools such as robust data analysis, convening relevant stakeholders, and aligning stakeholders on common goals, priorities, and strategies through intentional facilitation.

Four districts across Texas – Dallas ISD (2015), Fort Worth ISD (2017), Garland ISD (2018) and Richardson ISD (2018) – have implemented the ACE initiative, and in August 2019, six more districts will launch their ACE initiatives - Lubbock ISD, Crowley ISD, Aldine ISD, El Paso ISD (modified model), Plano ISD (modified model) and Pflugerville ISD. Each district provides a model of how the five core components have been implemented with fidelity while also adapted for the specific needs of their schools. To gain an understanding of how districts implemented the five core components specific to their context, please read the following vignettes and the examples provided throughout the Toolkit.

ACE, at minimum, is a three-year initiative with an additional year for the transition in process.

It is critical to establish an implementation leadership team at the district level to manage implementation of ACE. A district implementation leadership team should be a cohesive unit and include a superintendent who is invested in the purpose and goals of the initiative. While the leadership team will be responsible for leading the day-to-day implementation of ACE, it is important for the superintendent to be a visible leader of the initiative, helping to set the vision and manage resistance that might emerge.

The most important departments in the implementation phase include:

• Human Capital
• School Leadership
• Communications
• Operations/Finance

A project lead(s) with the authority to make decisions is needed to coordinate across departments and ensure the process moves forward at the appropriate pace. All department teams should align on a unified message about the reasons for implementing ACE.

Sometimes, it can feel as if the pace is slowing down to allow for the change to be processed. But typically, the long-term benefit of allowing for this space outweighs the reduced speed of implementation.

Throughout the toolkit, when one of the change management elements is emphasized or illustrated, the text will be highlighted with this icon.

On average, the annual ACE initiative costs are an additional $1,200-$1,400 per student or a total of $750K-$950K per campus (assuming 650 students and 45 teachers). ACE is a three-year program, at a minimum, with the district committing to the additional expenditures on the front end. Approximately 50% of that increase goes toward educator stipends and the rest is spread out across professional development, afterschool enrichment, transportation, and other social/emotional and operational costs identified by the district.

A breakdown of the stipend by role is as follows:

• $15,000 - principals
• $13,000 - assistant principals
• $10,000 - teachers
• $10,000 - counselors
• $8,000 - instructional coaches
• $8,000 - librarians

While implementing the ACE model requires a significant investment, it is a strategic decision that can help a district realize the tremendous potential within every student.

There are many ways to identify resources to pursue the ACE model. Some districts do so by running a deficit budget, changing the student-teacher ratio or auditing professional development contracts.

The most common exercises for identifying resources are:

A successful design and rollout of the ACE initiative with strong community and stakeholder support requires effective communication. The district must be able to clearly explain why the initiative is needed, how it will be implemented and whom it will impact. Examples of effective communication include:

• This video of an ACE proposal to a school board and,
• These presentation materials prepared by an ACE district.

Effective communication materials may take months to develop and should be ready for distribution when the program is announced. The following communication materials should be ready well in advance of program announcement:

1. Communication plan for campus staffing changes (example campus staffing communication: ACE FAQ)
2. Communication plan for board of trustees
3. Communication plan for parents/community members (example parents/community member communication: ACE Description and Announcement Flyer, Letter to Families, ACE Letter)
4. Communication plan for internal staff and district employees
5. Recruitment materials (example recruitment materials: ACE Recruitment Fair FAQ)
6. Media/storyline plan for positive coverage (example media coverage: Press Release, Media Alert, Talking Points)

Additional communication materials to consider preparing in advance include:

• Webpage/website (example website: Garland website)
• Report template for bi-weekly updates to the district leadership team, ACE planning committee and/or ACE schools and staff (example newsletter: Dallas Weekly Newsletter)

This Communications Checklist outlines when some of these materials will be used.

Districts should prioritize assembling the right team to champion the ACE initiative at the district level and at the campus level. National research has consistently shown that the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom is the most important in-school factor for student success. Students assigned to highly effective teachers are more likely to attend college, earn higher salaries, live in higher SES neighborhoods, and save more for retirement.

A team of effective teachers and leaders is the key to strong implementation of ACE. Districts should hire staff based on their demonstrated history of driving student growth as well as their growth mindset, high expectations and ability to build inspired relationships. An example of the roles on an ACE campus can be found here.

Human capital management, the district human resources strategy and team, is a key partner to involve early in the ACE planning and staffing process. Including human capital management in the conversations early will allow them to add important perspective and effectively plan for staffing the ACE campus and broader topics (this may include an open transfer window, external hiring freezes or setting a target deadline for the placement of displaced staff). Additionally, while ACE is a new strategy for a district, a district may have reconstituted a campus before and the established procedures and guidelines can be used to provide a framework for thinking about staffing.

When to announce ACE is a balancing act for a school district. If a district announces too early, it could harm staff morale; if a district announces too late, displaced staff may miss opportunities to be selected for openings for the upcoming school year.

While having a full year to plan for ACE is ideal, the first four districts that implemented ACE followed an implementation calendar that began in December or later in the school year. Districts should aim for a yearlong planning timeline but if that is not possible other ACE districts have planned and successfully implemented the initiative in a shorter timeline.

A timeline for the human capital management components of ACE implementation can help a district schedule their announcement and mitigate for a short time frame. The timeline should account for the following:

• Open transfer window
• Non-renewal process
• Contract renewals
• Staffing budget for next school year
• External/internal job fairs

Examples of full-year and condensed planning cycles can be found here. The steps in the timeline example are all important and districts are encouraged to complete each of them to ensure successful implementation as demonstrated in the graphic below. However, the time to complete each step, or the time between steps, may be condensed to accommodate a faster timeline. The most important action is to identify school leadership early in the process so there is ample planning time to engage the community, identify and interview staff and establish a strong school vision and culture.

Districts should manage the dissemination of information and reduce opportunities for misinformation to spread. It is important to keep the school names and affected staff confidential until answers to both "what is happening to the school" and "what happens to me" can be shared simultaneously. This information should include (a) the process by which an employee may be able to stay at a campus and (b) how the district will support an employee who will be changing campuses.

These examples demonstrate ways a district can provide information to staff: ACE campus presentation, notice of campus reconstitution, letter to staff and ACE stipend agreement form.

One of the most important decisions a district needs to make after identifying its ACE campuses is to select the school principals. A principal is critical to building the culture and climate at an ACE campus and is responsible for day-to-day execution of the ACE program. Districts that implemented ACE often cite a strong leader as one of the key components to a successful ACE campus. In many districts, the selection of a principal for a newly named ACE campus is made by the superintendent. Districts may benefit from shortening the selection process to help ensure confidentiality prior to the broader district announcement about the changes.

Principals should be selected based on their proven record as a leader of a school(s) that achieve high levels of student growth. Typical character traits of an effective ACE principal include energy, trustworthiness, honesty, optimism and determination. An ACE principal is a leader people want to follow, the front-person to families and the community and an exemplar of how to give and receive feedback.

This example demonstrates qualifications and responsibilities of an ACE principal: elementary school principal job description.

A district should start with a quantitative analysis of current principals based on relative school performance vs. expected school performance. Other compelling data include staff climate survey results and qualitative considerations, such as feedback from principal supervisors. ACE districts typically prioritize selecting principals based on their history of academic success as well as their success in building a strong school culture.

A district should attempt to select a principal from its internal pool of candidates instead of looking externally for several reasons. Principals hired within the district tend to have the experience and contacts needed to navigate district culture and identify needed resources. This gives them more time to focus on planning and successfully implementing ACE once the new school year begins. A candidate under contract with another district may have less time and need more support to participate in planning, hiring, meetings and community engagement. If it is necessary to hire someone who is not an existing district principal, a promising practice is hiring an assistant principal within the district with strong operational know-how.

While the selection of a strong principal for the new ACE campus should be cause for celebration, it may be negatively perceived by some staff and families at the school whose principal is leaving. It is important to provide information that helps the affected campus community understand the decision. Explaining why their former leader is needed to help a new group of students is as important as communicating the steps the district will take to make sure that a strong leader is selected to replace the outgoing leader of their campus in a timely fashion. Including community members in the selection process ensures they have input into the decision and helps minimize any negative impacts a change in leadership may have on teacher and family retention.

A similar messaging plan should be used to reach out to the new families and community at the ACE campus. It is important to provide information that helps the affected campus community understand why the decision was made. Many districts send a letter of introduction and host a meet the principal night in the spring. Here is an example of a Letter to ACE Campus Staff and an invitation to meet the principal. For many ACE districts, the outgoing principal will remain with their school through the end of the school year, providing stability as the school prepares to transition to ACE.

Districts should provide ACE teachers onboarding and training based on the needs of the teachers and the instructional focus of the school(s). This can include training on district and school systems, instruction and school culture. When determining the focus of onboarding and training, districts should consider the make-up of the school staff and whether they are new to the district or primarily internal hires. The onboarding and training plan for teachers should include time for this newly formed team of educators to build their school community. This new grouping needs time and space to learn how to best work together in support of their students. Onboarding and training can be provided internally by the district and school or externally by technical assistance providers such as Teaching Trust.

The leadership team plays an important role in helping to implement the vision and mission of the school by establishing a school culture and routines on a campus where the majority of employees are new to the school. This requires the new leadership team to focus on building trust within the team and across the school. It is important for the leadership team, once assembled, to convey a consistent message of growth mindset, high expectations and inspired relationships for the entire school. Consistency in messaging does not mean that all leadership team members should fit a single profile – a principal should hire individuals with particular skill sets that complement one another and contribute to a strong, unified leadership team.

A member of the leadership team will have many, if not all, of the character traits highlighted for the campus principal: energy, trustworthiness, honesty, optimism, and determination. They are also leaders that people want to follow, effective liaisons to families and the community, and exemplars of how to give and receive feedback.

These example job descriptions demonstrate the qualifications and responsibilities of the leadership team roles: Campus Instructional Coach Job Description, Data Analyst Job Description, ACE Elementary Assistant Principal Job Description, Intervention Specialist

The newly selected principal should be an active participant in assembling the leadership team for the campus. Principal autonomy in this decision is key to staff cohesion and building a positive climate/culture. The district leadership should only veto a principal’s selection in the most egregious of circumstances. Building the leadership team early allows for more hands to assist with hiring of teachers and to implement the ACE strategy.

The school profiles and analysis used to evaluate principals can be used as the initial data analysis to evaluate assistant principals. School leadership is critical in helping to identify current leaders in the district who embody the character traits outlined above. Selection of the skill sets embodied by the assistant principals should complement the strengths of the principal.

Selection should be communicated to the candidate’s current principal as soon as an offer is confirmed. The current principal, new principaland assistant principal should align on expectations for commitments, meetings and activities the leadership team may be involved in at the new campus during the spring months. A communication plan for staff and families at the current campus and the new campus should be developed to promote a smooth transition.

Successful ACE teachers are often described as being open to feedback, collaborative, and willing to ask for help – and receive it. They embrace the data and embrace the challenge. Additionally, successful ACE teachers tend to prioritize time for self-care (and are supported to do so by their principals) in order to sustain the energy and commitment needed for teaching at an ACE campus. Teaching at an ACE campus requires not only foundational teaching skills, but also supplemental competencies so that the teacher is ready, willing and able to persevere through challenges. These competencies are necessary to build a strong classroom and campus culture that can provide social and emotional support for students from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds.

These example job descriptions demonstrate the qualifications and responsibilities of an ACE teacher: Elementary School Teacher Job Description and Middle School Teacher Job Description

Hiring should begin with a quantitative analysis of all district teachers in order to create a starting point to consider the pool of talent. Most districts used Educational Resource Group (ERG) for a portion of the analysis (e.g., STAAR data across all content areas and grade levels). While some districts were already ERG clients, others contracted with ERG just for this specific analysis. Other data points for consideration include MAP and ISIP/ISIP- Espanol.

Following the quantitative analysis, there should be a qualitative analysis that includes a vetting of information to ensure accuracy. For most districts, this includes classroom walks by members of district leadership and conversations with principals, instructional coaches and other district leaders. A fuller picture of teachers’ performance can become clear as the district reviews the list of highly-rated teachers and visits their classrooms. With this insight into performance, the newly selected campus principal can develop a target list of teachers for the new campus.

An overview of the internal identification process can be found here. Additionally, an overview of the quantitative and qualitative analyses and how they fit into teacher selection can be found in this presentation.

A high-profile recruitment event as outlined in the Recruitment Section is a key opportunity to begin building the staff roster. However, it is unrealistic to expect that all teachers will be selected at such a recruitment event and/or from the target list of teachers. Some teachers may come from the original campus staff, although most ACE schools see a rate of about 10% retained. Some teachers may come from another district or even be new to the teaching profession, typically from programs that require a significant number of clinical experience hours prior to being the teacher of record. An example of teacher transition patterns can be seen here.

An internal hire typically avoids a learning curve for district systems and processes. This can be significant especially in the first six weeks. However, an external hire who has previous experience with ACE can also be a valuable asset. Such a teacher can help serve as a resource for fellow teachers and campus leaders. As a commitment to the larger ACE community, a district that seeks to hire from another ACE district should receive approval from that district before extending an offer of employment. When possible, districts should request data points for external hires similar to those used in the analysis of district teachers during the quantitative analysis stage.

A principal should consider the composition not only of the overall teaching staff, but also within teams, departments, and grade levels. For example, a third-grade team should neither be all first-year teachers nor all external hires. Full information about the interview process for ACE schools is outlined in the Interview Section.

The decision to join an ACE campus is a cause for celebration. At the teacher level, it is less common to encounter resistance from the families at the prior campus because the transition to an ACE campus occurs at the end of a school year. Most concerns will center on finding an equally strong teacher to assume the vacant position on the campus. District leaders should communicate to the staff and families the supports the district will provide to the campuses to help fill the vacant position and other positions that may occur through normal attrition. It also helps to highlight, when appropriate, previous success in hiring and onboarding strong teachers for that campus.

Whether the principal or leadership team are internal hires, external hires or a combination, the level of support for the new ACE principal and leadership team is a significant investment by a district. Most districts provide the support internally through a principal supervisor within school leadership who may serve only ACE campuses. Other districts provide external support through groups such as Teaching Trust and Big Rocks. A full list of technical assistance providers can be found here.

The ACE model requires a district to rebuild a school with intentional hiring based on proven data performance and the mindset needed for success in an ACE campus. For most districts, recruitment for the ACE campus will run parallel to the district-wide recruitment activities. Many ACE districts hired a number of positions by hosting a celebratory recruitment event described in detail below. For all districts, recruitment extended beyond that one event. It is key for the success of the new ACE school that the same standards and practices used in hiring the first staff member are applied throughout the hiring of all new staff.

Recruiting teachers for ACE campuses is a key part of the ACE initiative. This can take place in different ways, but many ACE districts have found success through a recruitment fair. Here is a FAQ on the ACE Recruitment Fair.

The recruitment fair should closely follow the public announcement of the district’s decision to implement ACE, typically within a couple of weeks. Ideally, the event should occur prior to an open transfer window within a district to ensure prospective teachers have not already been selected by another campus. Placing the recruitment event before an open transfer window also provides the campuses that have teachers leaving to join ACE an opportunity to hire internally for their newly identified vacancies.

For additional details regarding invitations, location, messaging, role of the principal, role of human capital management, and run of show, along with tools and resources to plan and implement the event, please see here.

A communication plan or touch point is recommended for a principal and newly selected teacher following this event. Continuing the dialogue and building excitement toward the next school year are important to ensure the teacher remains committed to joining the new ACE campus. It is also important to recognize that a campus will leave this event with teacher vacancies. Human Capital Management, along with the principal and school leadership, should develop a plan for how, where and when they will recruit for the remaining openings.

All job postings for an ACE campus are public. In the posting of positions, it is important that a district consider the timing of the public announcement to pursue ACE. Most districts delay posting positions until the announcement has been made and the specific campuses have been named.

It is recommended that staff members at a current ACE school be afforded the opportunity to interview with the newly-selected principal if they are interested in remaining at the campus. It is also strongly recommended that all staff members reapply for their position to remain at the school. This can be extremely important in ensuring the process is not viewed as arbitrary or biased. It is important to note that previous ACE districts have seen a retention rate of no more than 10% of the current staff.

Here are example job postings for the various roles at an ACE campus: Elementary School Principal Job Description, Elementary School Teacher Job Description, Middle School Teacher Job Description, Campus Instructional Coach Job Description, Data Analyst Job Description, ACE Elementary Assistant Principal Job Description, Intervention Specialist.

The newly-named principal for the ACE campus should serve as the primary decision-maker in assembling the new staff. School leadership approval may be appropriate for hiring members of the school leadership team, internal teachers who are not on the list of highly qualified teachers based on the quantitate analysis and external district hires.

Once the leadership team has been identified, it is expected that its members will serve in the interview process. Here is a an example of how other ACE districts have structured their interviews: ACE interview configuration.

Through the teacher selection model, all candidates are evaluated based on competencies around candidate mindset, commitment, achievement and instructional practices predictive of teacher effectiveness listed below. These competencies were determined based on research and guidance from other large urban school districts. They guide both the process and design of the selection model and materials.

Selection Competencies:

• Candidate Mindsets: equity, respect, personal responsibility
• Commitment: initiative, perseverance, professionalism, adaptability
• Candidate Achievement: leadership, academic success, relationship building
• Instructional Practices: data-driven instruction, behavior management, content expertise/pedagogy

However, the competencies are not required for every ACE district. The final determination should be made by each individual district.

The campus-based interview is a crucial final piece to ensure that candidates are a good fit for the campus and possess the skills and mindsets necessary to succeed. Research shows that structured interviews (i.e., reusing the same questions/prompts and scoring candidate responses on a rubric in a consistent manner) are much more likely to predict job effectiveness than unstructured interviews (Rose, D. S., English, A., & Finney, T. G. (2014). Hire Better Teachers Now: Using the Science of Selection to Find the Best Teachers for Your School. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press). Here is an overview of the campus based hiring components.

Here are example rubrics and interview questions: sample interview questions, behavior based rubric and questions for teachers, sample rating sheets, interview questions for principals and additional interview questions for principals.

ACE can be disruptive for adults, especially to current staff members who may be asked to transition to a new school. For this reason, districts should pay special attention to these staff members and establish a plan for this group early in the planning process for the implementation of ACE. If a district can communicate the entire plan when announcing ACE this will help minimize the impact and uncertainty of change.

For many districts, the first decision will be if positions for the upcoming school year will be guaranteed. Some districts have pursued non-renewal for a sub-set of teachers, but for many districts, a teaching position is guaranteed within their district for the upcoming school year. The timing of the announcement to current staff should be mindful of the non-renewal timeline (if applicable) as well as the open-transfer window.

Districts should follow their human resource guidelines on notification of campus reconstitution. As outlined in the Communication section, having the superintendent or another high-level district official assist in the meeting with current staff is important to ensure clear communication of why the campus is undergoing the transition as well as explain the next steps for the employees.

Districts should also set a target-date, often prior to the end of the current school year for each transitioning staff member to find a new position. Some districts have implemented an external hiring freeze, some have placed teachers in vacant positions, and some have given preferred hiring status to transitioning staff.

An example of a timeline for non-renewing staff can be found here. Additionally, an example of a notice of campus reconstitution to inform staff of the change can be found here and a survey to gauge staff interest can be found here.

For many schools, the work begins with a new approach to professional learning communities (PLCs). Often times the PLC teams break down standards into “what does a student know” and “how will he/she show the teacher he/she knows it” - know/show. Data meetings that dive deeper into the misunderstandings and the areas for re-teaching follow this exercise. The teams go even further by revisiting the know/show to uncover what was missed and making further revisions to the know/show chart. Through the process of breaking down standards, looking at assessment items and discussing student work, teachers effectively use data to inform their practice. Examples of a data driven PLC session can be found here.

In the classroom, data is present both from a visual display of student levels and progress on demonstrations of learning (DOLs), but also in practice of each lesson. Many districts employ aggressive data monitoring protocols to make sure data is being looked at regularly.

The first step for many schools is to create a master schedule, which can look different across and within districts. Many schools use this opportunity to create double blocks for high priority areas such as math, English language arts or language development. An example of a master schedule created by Titche ES can be found here and by Umphrey Lee ES can be found here.

Dallas ISD implemented a schedule that included math and reading blocks, which can be seen here. They implemented guided reading during this time; an example of that is here. Additionally, the district developed an extensive system for tracking and understanding data. The district uses a dashboard that campus leadership and ACE principals can use to monitor data. This includes tracking everything from DOLs to teacher observations.

Additional data driven instructional resources include: ACE data practices overview, ACE reteach protocol and leadership action planning template.

To create a positive staff culture, schools should celebrate their gains as well as create a joyful environment. This can be done through large celebrations or smaller strategies such as staff newsletters, staff recognition at meetings, spirit shirts, staff chants and videos. In addition to a positive staff culture, it is important to create a positive school culture. Schools can do so through individual classroom celebrations, full school celebrations, individual student recognition and school wide competitions. An example of this is the house system implemented by Ron Clark Academy where students are organized into different houses and compete against one another.

The extended learning component of the ACE model is comprised of two components:

1. Extended School Day: This is an extra hour of instruction in the school day. Most ACE campuses embed this time into the master schedule for the campus, allowing for reading and/or math to be an extended period. Others use this hour at the end of the school day for additional tutoring and instructional support. For examples on how districts have created their master schedules, see the Instructional Excellence and Overview section.
2. Campus Open until 6:00 p.m.: By allowing the campus to remain open following the extended school day, the school can offer free enrichment opportunities to the students along with a free evening meal. This extended time for students creates space to offer free programming for the parents, making the school a central part of the community it serves. While the specific programming offered by each district varies, each district makes the offerings free for all students at the ACE campuses.

Additionally, district leaders can work with the ACE schools to understand the current resources and conditions of the campus to ensure the needs of students are being met during extended learning time. To determine the current resources and conditions of ACE campuses, districts can complete this Asset Inventory Interview for principals and counselors.

ACE districts use the additional hour of instruction in different ways to enhance student learning and provide additional enrichment opportunities. For example, Fort Worth uses the additional hour of instruction for re-teaching based on student data and enrichment opportunities, such as fencing and sports. The enrichment activities are provided by Clayton and the YMCA based on student surveys that captured student interest. Richardson ISD has an after-school program, xPlore, available at all schools. At the ACE campuses the district contracts with outside vendors, such as Girls on the Run, to provide enrichment opportunities to students in addition to providing dinner. Dallas has a district wide after-school program and provides students on ACE campuses with enrichment opportunities through outside providers. An overview of how Garland ISD uses their additional hour of instruction and extended can be found here.

Additionally, districts and programs that are not a part of the ACE initiative may provide useful examples that districts should consider when deciding how to use the additional hour of instruction and extend day. See here for examples

The social and emotional learning pillar of ACE allows for each district to implement a curriculum or approach selected by its district or campus. For some districts, this may be a continuation of a current program or the beginning of a new initiative. For other districts, this may be a new program specific for the ACE campuses. At the core of each district’s approach is a focus on developing positive student/adult relationships, creating a safe learning environment, and emphasizing restorative discipline practices in order to focus on the needs of the whole child.

The intentional focus or refocus on addressing the social and emotional needs of students provides the schools space to institute systems and routines that create and build positive relationships between adults and students. Simple daily acts by adults who are present and active can create an environment conducive to positive learning and student success such as:

• Welcoming students in a positive manner
• Having students indicate their starting point on a “mood meter” as they enter the classroom
• Building trust and understanding through restorative circles

One of the most common reflections about an ACE campus from parents, students and staff is the transformation that takes place on the campus. In many cases, parents and other stakeholders do not even recognize the new campus. Administrators often share stories about their campus prior to ACE being chaotic as evidenced by things that include negative student culture, low staff morale, and poor student and staff attendance. Here are some examples of the results ACE districts have seen.

ACE districts embed social and emotional learning into their ACE campuses in a variety of ways based on the district context and the needs of the school(s). For example, Fort Worth prioritized three initiatives:

1. Employing a Behavior Specialist at every campus;
2. Creating a calming room on every campus; and
3. Providing Restorative Practice training to staff and implementing the practices.

Richardson ISD implemented Second Step curriculum, which included scoping out the calendar of lessons for teachers to deliver at the beginning of the school day. Additionally, they integrated mind-body breaks into the daily schedule that allow students to move and center themselves to better engage in classroom work. As the district goes into their second year of implementing ACE, they will incorporate Restorative Practices, including restorative circles, on ACE campuses as well. Dallas ISD partnered with CASEL to implement social emotional competencies along with a social and emotional learning curriculum, Harmony, for morning meetings. In addition, they provided a variety of trainings to ACE staff including Restorative Practices, the redirection hierarchy, and implementing calming corners and morning circles. An overview of how Garland ISD embeds social and emotional learning can be found here.

Districts should consider the examples provided by current ACE districts along with social and emotional learning programs that take place outside of ACE districts when deciding what social and emotional learning will look like in their schools. Examples of those can be found here.

The parent and community partnerships vary across the districts that have implemented ACE. Often, the partnerships are building upon previous relationships or best practices from other schools within their district. The approach a district takes to engaging parents and the community should fit the context of the district and the specific schools in the initiative.

A few examples of how ACE districts include parents and the greater community in this work include the effort of Richardson ISD who partnered with the parent teacher associations (PTAs) from the ACE schools with PTAs from other elementary schools across the district. Additionally, Dade MS in Dallas ISD started an initiative called “Breakfast with Dads” to bring father and father figures into the school and to ensure all students felt comfortable participating they brought in men from the community to serve as volunteer dads and mentors. For more information see the following article. In addition, many districts host parent workshops on topics that include how families can help their student be successful, social and emotional learning and how to read and understand student data.

Additionally, ACE districts used the roll out of the ACE initiative as an opportunity to engage with families and the community. This includes general parent and community information on ACE, new principal meet and greets and information sessions for families to get additional information and ask questions.

Additional parent and community communication resource include: parent information letter, family presentation, principal meet and greet invitation, parent notification letter, student and parent one-pager, student and parent pledge.

For the ACE model to gain traction and create lasting change, district leaders, school leaders, and teachers of ACE districts should commit to three years of implementing the components of ACE with fidelity. This provides time for the systems and school culture to take root and continue to grow, even when the financial supports are removed.

The three-year commitment is a commitment of the district to the school (for stipends, extra positions, additional resources) and a three-year commitment from leaders and teachers to the district that they will stay at that school. A school can be an ACE school longer than three years if needed for performance reasons.

At the end of three years, some staff transitions are inevitable. Some staff may be promoted to leadership positions within the district and some may choose to join a new ACE campus. In order to sustain ACE, districts and school campuses should aim to keep the following resources and systems in place:

1. Stipend for key positions, such as PLC or data leads, instructional coaches, APs
2. Continuity of leadership and professional development offerings
3. Systems such as arrival/dismissal/transitions
4. School culture practices
5. Data wall and data practices
6. Social emotional learning curriculum and best practices (such as restorative circles), and adjusting master schedule as needed to accommodate loss of the extra hour in the school day

Districts have a few options to sustain the ACE financial supports of the first three years.

The most common exercises for identifying resources are:

1. Strategy Prioritization – This is an exercise to identify the most important areas within each department’s budget and, conversely, those areas that could be trimmed to free-up resources to utilize on a high impact strategy such as ACE.
2. Reviewing General District Professional Development Contracts – In most districts, campus professional development vendors fall under a single, massive professional development contract that has very little oversight and, in some cases, no way of showing tangible programmatic benefits. A district can identify areas of saving within these contracts to reallocate toward implementing high-quality, student-centered initiatives such as ACE.

Another option is to explore a change in governance. In Ft. Worth, the ACE campuses or Leadership Academies are currently going through the SB 1882 process to become in-district charters that will be run by Texas Wesleyan University. This shift in governance allows these campuses to sustain their levels of funding.

Transitioning from a Middle School ACE model, as opposed to an Elementary ACE model, can require more intensive supports. For an elementary school, the new students coming in are Pre-K or Kindergarten students, and only about 15% of the school is new each year. For those grade levels – the expectations, the culture, the systems are all new – the students don’t have a previous notion from a prior school of how things are done, therefore, it is easier for them to adapt to the culture and performance expectations of the school.

But for middle school, the new students coming in are 6th grades, and they represent a third of the school that is “new to ACE” each year. This group of students has experienced other schools – often with failing systems, failing cultures, and without high expectations. These students often require more support to understand and embrace the culture, systems and expectations of an ACE school.

As schools transition off of ACE and have lost some of the resources, Dallas ISD leaders reflect that the critical strategy for sustaining the work, particularly in middle schools, is building the capacity of teacher leaders. Teacher leaders support the principal in leading the school and developing teachers so that teachers are equipped to support new and existing students thrive socially, emotionally and academically.

Research consistently supports the fact that the most important in-school factor to student success is the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom.

• How are great teachers identified?
• How do we help all teachers improve their craft?
• How can we retain an effective and diverse teacher workforce?
• How can districts think strategically about staffing so students with the greatest needs have access to the most effective teachers?

Answering these questions requires, in part, nuanced, accurate data about each teachers’ performance generated by a well-implemented strategic evaluation system.

The state-adopted evaluation system, Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS), uses three core components and was designed to capture the holistic nature of teaching and offer a more nuanced evaluation of teacher effectiveness. However, while T-TESS applies multiple measures, and the tools and rubrics are developed well, the way districts implement T-TESS often does not meaningfully differentiate teacher performance. For example, in 2017-2018 over 73% of teachers under T-TESS were evaluated within the range of Proficient or better, making it difficult for districts to precisely inform feedback, improve professional development, provide increased compensation and advancement based on performance and provide rationale for teacher dismissals.

Fortunately, there are districts in Texas and elsewhere designing and implementing strategic evaluation systems that are differentiating ratings and using the data to achieve strong results. These strategic systems have proven to:

• Increase retention of higher performing teachers
• Improve student outcomes
• Close opportunity gaps

While there is no one perfect system, there are components from these state and national examples that provide a helpful roadmap for districts looking to strengthen T-TESS or develop a locally approved strategic evaluation system.

A strategic evaluation system fairly and accurately evaluates teachers based on multiple measures, including student growth and student voice, and leads to meaningful differentiation of evaluation ratings (e.g., not all teachers are rated as effective). The evaluation data are used to inform critical human capital decisions such as strategic staffing, professional development, compensation, career pathways and hiring, supporting and retaining the best possible teachers.

The ideal components of a strategic teacher evaluation system contain (at a minimum) the following categories:

For more detail on these components, please see Exploring: What Does a Strategic Evaluation System Include?

The purpose of this Toolkit is to help school district leaders develop a strategic evaluation system for teachers in their district. This Toolkit includes an overview of how to leverage evaluation data, the components of a strategic evaluation system, how the system has been implemented in districts to date, and key takeaways from district leaders and researchers at multiple districts.

How to use this Toolkit:

1. Introduction - describes the rationale and opportunity for strengthening a multi-measure evaluation system.
2. Exploring - describes the benefits of using evaluation data, details about the components of a multiple measure evaluation system, and pathways for strengthening districts existing systems.
3. Implementing - describes how to implement the components of a strategic evaluation system including change management considerations.
4. Continuous Improvement - describes how district leaders can engage teachers and leaders in ongoing feedback cycles to continually improve the design and implementation of the evaluation system.

For districts to be able to make decisions based on evaluation data, they need a strategic evaluation system that fosters differentiation among evaluation outcomes. T-TESS offers a strong foundation that districts can build from to extend the impact of their evaluation systems. T-TESS is comprised of three components:

1. Goal-setting and professional development plan;
2. The evaluation cycle (including pre-conference, observation and post-conference); and
3. A student growth measure that is not required to be an objective student assessment.

Components (1) and (2) comprise 80% of the evaluation, while the student growth measure represents the remaining 20%. Embedded within component (1) and (2) is a detailed and comprehensive T-TESS rubric comprised of four domains: (1) Planning, (2) Instruction, (3) Learning Environment, and (4) Professional Practices and Responsibilities.

With the addition of the key components outlined below, school districts will be better equipped to make informed strategic human capital decisions

What this is:

It is the use of multiple assessments that can be used to measure both (i) absolute student achievement and (ii) student achievement growth, either during the year and/or year-over-year. Assessments could include state standardized assessments, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), I-Station, ITBS, or any other standard assessment used district-wide. The assessments must go through a district process to ensure the validity and reliability of the testing instrument.

How incorporating this strengthens T-TESS:

It requires a student growth measure that quantifies the extent to which a teacher contributes to his/her students’ learning over the course of the year.

What this is:

It is a combination of informal coaching and formal observations conducted by a principal, assistant principal or instructional leader at the school, based on a rubric of educator and teacher behaviors. Observers are trained or normed to accurately and consistently rate teacher practice according to the rubric.

How incorporating this strengthens T-TESS:

It includes an inter-rater reliability requirement to ensure evaluators are fairly and accurately rating teachers, such that observers observing the same teacher give him or her the same ratings on the observation rubric.

What this is:

This is a way to capture student voice through a perception survey administered to students in grades 3-12. This should be a research-based survey that captures students’ feedback about their classroom experience.

How incorporating this strengthens T-TESS:

T-TESS does not include student survey data.

*Evaluation component weights should be adjusted for teacher type (i.e., a second-grade teacher will not have a student perception survey, so the other components weights will be adjusted accordingly).

For additional details on how other districts and states weight the components see the following resource.

For more details and the rationale for each of these components, please read below. For more details on implementing these components, see the Implementation Considerations section.

Districts should include a student growth measure, in addition to a measure on absolute student performance, because it provides a richer, more comprehensive picture of student learning. A measure of absolute student performance indicates the performance of a student at one point in time while a student growth measure indicates the progress of a student over time. There are different types of student growth measures that provide different types of information. Below you will find details on three of the most common student growth measures. The first two measures are objective measures based on common assessments while the last is a subjective measure, dependent on teacher and principal judgement:

1. Student growth percentiles (SGPs): this is a measure that uses a student’s past performance to determine a student’s current performance compared to the student’s peers.
2. Value-added model (VAM): this is a measure that determines the impact of an educator or school on student learning and controls for factors outside of a teacher’s control that influence student achievement.
3. Student learning objectives (SLOs): this is a measure of student progress based on student growth goals set by teachers.

For additional details on how other districts and states weight the student achievement component see the following resource.

For details on additional student growth measures, such as growth tables, see the Growth Data: It Matters and It's Complicated by Data Quality Campaigns.

What it is: Student growth percentiles (SGPs) show how a student’s achievement at the end of the year compares to other students who started at the same level at the beginning of the year.

What it does: SGPs indicate progress in terms that are familiar to teachers and parents. Typically, a teacher will be evaluated based on the median growth percentile (MGP), which is useful because it is not drastically altered by one or two students performing exceptionally well or low.

What it doesn't do: SGPs do not account for factors outside of test scores that may contribute to student learning. Additionally, the measure does not provide any information on student achievement relative to grade-level standards or account for variations in students or classes.

For additional information, please see the RAND report on student growth percentiles.

Effective implementation of a well-designed strategic evaluation system drives improvement in teacher practice and student learning. This section highlights important details for implementing:

• Core Components Selection, Calculation and Weight
• Calibration of Observers
• Differentiated Compensation

When implementing the core components of a strategic evaluation system, there are a variety of considerations related to each component. These considerations require a district to reflect on the context of their schools, educators and community along with the district structure and existing evaluation system.

When determining the weight of each component that will be used to evaluate educators, districts should consider the following questions:

1. What will be the overall size of the student achievement component?
2. What will be the overall size of the student survey component? (if applicable)
3. What will be the overall size of the observation component?
4. Will a school-wide measure be included for every teacher?
5. How will the inclusion and weights of the components vary for different teachers, i.e., tested vs non-tested subjects?
6. Is there a minimum number of days for a teacher to receive an evaluation?

1. Will all grades receive the survey or will it be limited to grades 3 and higher?
2. Will students complete a survey for all teachers or will they submit feedback for a limited number?
3. Will every class be surveyed, for example, would a student complete a survey for their advisory period or a study hall?
4. Will surveys be administered to students in special education units?
5. What languages will you offer the survey in?
6. Will the survey be conducted online or paper? How many times a year will you conduct the survey? Will you average the scores?
7. Will there be a minimum length of time the student will need to have been assigned to the teacher’s class?
8. Will results be compared differentiated by school type (elementary, middle, high school) and/or by subject (core subject, elective)?
9. Will questions on the survey be available in advance?

1. Will the calculation of the overall scorecard calculation include a targeted distribution or have fixed cut points?
2. Will the calculation of individual components follow a targeted distribution or have set fixed cut points?

Target Distribution: Target distribution sets a fixed percentage of teachers for each rating or point level and assigns cut scores for assessments based on this distribution. The use of a target distribution can help promote equity across grades and content areas because the cut score can be set independently for each assessment, mitigating for any differences in rigor of assessments. Additionally, once set, the distribution does not have to be adjusted if the test is changed. While the target distribution makes the evaluation process fair and sustainable, it limits how many teachers can be rated at the top, which can feel unfair to teachers and outside stakeholders.

A target distribution can also promote budget sustainability, if strategic compensation is included in the system design. A target distribution allows for budgeting models to predict the number of teachers who could receive salary increases, based on potential increase in performance rating.

Fixed Cut Points: Fixed cut points use pre-determined cut scores for each assessment and each overall performance level. While this method is more easily understood by teachers, providing a goal or a target for their individual performance, it does not allow for a district to adjust those targets if the outcomes of the student achievement component is different than expected. For example, if standards change for a STAAR exam, it may result in a harder exam and fewer than expected teachers reaching the higher performance levels.

Fixed cut points at the performance level can present a challenge for budget forecasting if strategic compensation is included in the system design strategic compensation. With fixed cut points, it is mathematically possible for all teachers to achieve the highest performance and therefore highest compensation level. If fixed cut points are used, other implementation parameters may be used to help ensure fiscal sustainability, such as a salary cap increase or a limit on the number of performance levels a teacher may advance each year.

Calibration is one of the most important and challenging elements of implementation.

When determining the administrator calibration methods, districts should consider the following questions:

1. What is the district’s calibration/observation best practice recommendations?
2. How aligned are the outcomes of the observation component to the District’s definition of Excellence?
3. How aligned are the outcomes of the observation component to the student growth components?
4. How can inter-rater reliability be included as a part of the evaluator’s own observation?

Developing a differentiated compensation system based on the evaluation results requires careful consideration and preparation so that employees understand and embrace the transition to a new pay structure.

Increasing Base Salary or Providing a Stipend: A district may approach differentiated compensation by offering a change in base salary structure or as a stipend paid in addition to a traditional pay structure. A change to base salary signals a long-term commitment by a district, but may require implementation rules such as a targeted distribution to ensure it is fiscally able to sustain the proposed changes. A stipend allows a district to adjust the amounts each year based on the district’s available budget. This approach may increase the feeling among teachers that this is a temporary program, similar to other "pay for performance" stipends in the past.

Setting a Salary Floor: A district can set a salary floor so that an employee who was with district prior to the change in compensation will not see their salary decrease. This decision will impact how teachers who have prior salaries based on years of experience and/or degrees are hired and paid as they transition into a new district’s pay structure. A district may also consider providing a salary floor based on their starting salary with the district or may choose to not offer a salary floor, meaning the teacher’s salary will adjust based on the first year of performance in the district.

Setting a Salary Increase Cap: As the district transitions from a traditional pay scale, a cap on increase in salary each year can help ensure financial stability and predictability. Some districts have used a $5,000 cap on an increase each year for the first two years of a new compensation system.

Compensation Level Movement: Implementing rules that control for fluctuation in effectiveness level will provide stability to a teacher’s annual salary. With the addition of more complex student achievement measures, the final evaluation scorecards may not be available until late summer/early September, meaning teachers will need to be able to anticipate the salary for the coming year based on implementation parameters. Here are some examples of parameters:

• Limits on compensation levels for early years teachers: Early years teachers may advance one level per year, and must begin at the first level.
• Limits on number of compensation levels advance in one year: Teachers may advance one level per year. Teachers who are hired with three or more years of teaching will not have a level assigned until they have completed their first year in the district.
• Limits on how many years of lower performance to have compensation level lowered: Teachers with multiple years of lower performance, will be lowered one level.
• Averaging of two years performance to produce compensation level: When multiple years of evaluation data is available, an average of the last two years will be used to determine compensation level.

There are a number of ways to "find" existing dollars in a district’s general operating budget to fund a strategic evaluation system. For many districts that may have used a flat increase for all employees, it may consider using those dollars to fund the new strategic compensation approach. Some additional examples used by districts include:

1. Prioritizing the funding of strategic initiatives through cuts across the board by department (i.e., have each department prioritize their spending, and then as a district leadership team, determine what spending is not necessary or not a priority).
2. Analyzing all existing professional development contracts, particularly those under the umbrella "approved vendor" list to determine which vendors have programs that can show positive data for their performance and which cannot. This exercise has uncovered many expenditures that had zero to no known impact on students/campuses.

Compensation/Budget Director: This person creates budget models for compensation scenarios. This is an existing role within districts. Communications: This person assist with stakeholder engagement and creates resources and forums to share information; this is a critical component in successful implementation. This is typically an existing department within a district. It is recommended to include this department to assist with the efforts. School Leadership: These individuals serve as a champion for the evaluation system. They help communicate the "WHY" to Principal and Teacher stakeholders and oversee implementation of the observation rubric, specifically the calibration of observers. Additionally, they participate in the continuous improvement process.

Legal/Employee Relations: These individuals participate in the modifications or the design of a new system to ensure compliance with local and state regulations. They provide guidance on implementation and individual components and update district policies related to staffing decisions (if applicable). This is a decision point for a district to decide how performance evaluations will be used in hiring decision. This can be an opportunity to change policies from using seniority as a determining factor in compensation to how include performance on evaluation system when considering staff reductions and in leveling decisions (when expected enrollment is not aligned to actual enrollment).Employee Relations: Any change to a performance evaluation system should include close coordination with both the employee relations department and the district’s legal department to ensure compliance with district policy and state education code. Changes could also result in an initial increase in grievances or lawsuits. Including employee relations and legal in the design and implementation can mitigate the exposure of the district.

The Texas legislature passed a sweeping bill for school finance reform in the spring of 2019, including unlocking funds districts for a Teacher Incentive Allotment. For additional information on TIA and other components of House Bill 3, please visit the TEA webpage.

As with any district initiative, the capacity of district departments to execute this work is critical for success. The performance evaluation team is frequently housed within Human Resources, supporting current evaluation system(s). As changes to the system are considered, the team supporting may need to grow and will need to expand beyond the Human Resources department to include the following roles:

1. Evaluation System Director: This person will serve as the champion for a strong multi-measure evaluation system, ensuring close-coordination of district departments involved in the work. They will oversee execution of evaluation cycle and lead continuous improvement cycle for program.
2. Evaluation & Assessment Data Director: This person oversees the calculation of student achievement and growth measures, the student survey administration and the production of overall evaluation scores. A district may choose to out-source this role and responsibilities, dependent on their capacity, to places such as ERG or SASS.

In addition to broad engagement with most departments in the district, a subset of leaders, the implementation leadership team, will be critical to identify and to charge with ensuring a coherent and smooth rollout of changes. The implementation leadership team should include the following members:

• Project Lead – a person with the authority (either by existing role or Superintendent designee) to make decisions to ensure the process moves thoughtfully and at the appropriate speed.
• Superintendent of Schools – It is imperative that the Superintendent is the public champion of the initiative to change the evaluation system, repeatedly reinforcing why multi-measure evaluation and strategic compensation is a priority for the district.
• Superintendent Cabinet (Chiefs of every department) – The evaluation system has implications for every aspect of teaching and learning and therefore, each department chief, particularly those in charge of human capital, school leadership, assessment, communications and operations/finance will play a critical role in rolling it out and in reiterating the reasons for implementing changes. Aligned efforts and a united front will trickle down to all staff/teachers and pave the way for smoother implementation.
• Campus Experts/ Representatives – Because evaluation systems are implemented by principals and teachers, it is valuable to have a representative or champion at each campus who understands and believes in the evaluation system and can support his or her colleagues to implement it with fidelity and use the system to improve feedback and professional development. These representatives can also provide valuable feedback to district leaders about how the system is or is not working well and what tweaks might improve the experience at the campus-level. This can be a multi-year, stipend position.

A hallmark of successful strategic evaluation system is the ability to iterate and improve the system over time. After the initial implementation, a district must remain committed to assessing and improving the system based on evaluation data and feedback from educators and leaders. This requires a district to create a process for continuous improvement that is clear to all stakeholders. Through this process, feedback and data should continuously inform improvements and adjustments.

A district can obtain feedback and identify areas for improvement through methods that include focus groups, surveys, collaborative committees/panels and stakeholder meetings. In addition to feedback from educators, it is important for the district to understand the impact and efficacy of the system based on data. Districts should regularly review data to identify schools where student achievement scores and observation ratings are not aligned. This information should be used to make necessary system-level adjustments as well as inform where additional training and support may be needed. The ongoing analysis of evaluation data can also help mitigate for potential bias in observations. If district resources are limited, an outside partner, such as a university or a consulting organization, can provide additional capacity to solicit and incorporate feedback.

While T-TESS incorporates multiple measures to evaluate teacher practice, districts’ implementation of T-TESS has not meaningfully differentiated teacher performance. Strengthening an evaluation system to provide meaningful differentiation enables important results and rewards the most impactful educators. It allows for:

• Equity in access to effective teachers and school leaders: using evaluation data for strategic staffing decisions to ensure students with the highest need have access to effective educators.
• Differentiated professional development: using evaluation data to provide targeted training and support to educators.
• Differentiated compensation: using evaluation data to inform salary levels, not just tenure, so that effective teachers are rewarded with higher compensation.
• Identification of future campus leaders: using evaluation data to identify and support educators for career pathways that lead to leadership positions and retention of effective teachers.
• Improved teacher recruitment: using evaluation data to inform educator recruitment and support.

One important strategy for supporting student success, particularly for students of color and students in low-income communities, is ensuring that effective educators are teaching in the schools and classrooms most in need. Research shows that students assigned to effective teachers are more likely to attend college, earn higher salaries, live in higher socio-economic status neighborhoods, and save more for retirement.

How can my district use evaluation data to support this strategy?

Evaluation data can be used to make strategic staffing decisions that ensure students with the highest need have access to effective educators. These decisions include which teachers are placed in high-needs schools and which teachers get tenure. Some districts are incentivizing their high-performing educators to teach in high needs schools by offering financial compensation.

An evaluation system that provides meaningful differentiation in performance allows a district to target its professional development to an individual teacher's areas of growth, address trends that emerge for groups of teachers and support educators through coaching and feedback. The ability to provide differentiated support based on evaluation data is especially helpful when it comes to supporting teachers newer to the field; novice teachers are at a critical development stage and targeted support based on evaluation data can aid them in building the skills necessary to be a successful educator.

How can my district use evaluation data to support this strategy?

Evaluation data can be used to identify teachers’ areas of growth for professional development as well as identify those teachers in need of additional supports such as coaching, mentoring and/or targeted professional development sessions. For example, evaluation data can be used to match a teacher with a low rating in a specific area with a teacher who has demonstrated excellence in that same area of focus. Additionally, teachers rated highly effective can be provided more flexibility in their professional development and given opportunities to drive their own growth. This could include a self-directed growth plan or opportunities to develop other teachers. Evaluation data can also be used to inform the feedback cycle so coaches have targeted feedback to inform teachers’ practice.

Nearly every Texas school district compensates teachers based on seniority regardless of classroom effectiveness. Within seniority-based compensation systems, there is no financial incentive for an effective educator to take on a more challenging role within a high-need or low-performing campus. As a result, current systems favor more affluent schools and districts, which perpetuates systemic inequities. By re-considering the approach to compensation, a district can support the district’s values by prioritizing results and rewarding teachers and leaders accordingly. Differentiated compensation enables the district to reward and retain teachers who perform well and raise student achievement results. After implementing a strategic compensation system, over 90% of proficient or above teachers at Dallas ISD were retained, far exceeding the 83% state average for teacher retention.

How can my district use evaluation data to support this strategy?

Evaluation data can be used to inform the level of compensation for teachers. Compensation adjustments can include either additional performance bonuses or stipends or a change to the salary structure. Both methods have benefits and considerations:

• Stipends: Stipends can be perceived as a concrete bonus and recognition for an educator’s accomplishment. The level of stipends can adjust annually in response to budget needs and the number of educators who are eligible. This allows for flexibility, but may lead to a lack of confidence in the longevity of the system.
• Salary Structure: Changes to an educator’s base pay can be perceived as a more permanent commitment to recognizing an educator’s accomplishments. Those educators with a higher salary level now will also have a higher retirement benefit later, so the district must ensure fiscal feasibility in future years. Additionally, this system can lead to some uncertainty because it may be harder for teachers to understand their salary in the upcoming year. Final compensation decisions would be based on data that comes in over the summer and not finalized until after school begins in Mid-August. However, under this structure, an educator would know their salary minimum prior to signing a new contract, and the final compensation decision would only increase their total pay. See the School Finance and School Outcomes presentation by the Texas Schools Project.

Principal turnover is a challenge in many districts and greatest at schools with a higher concentration of poverty. In a 2016 Bain & Co. Leadership survey of 7 urban districts and CMOs, 97% of respondents believe effective principals are critical to school success, but only about 15% of educators and leaders believe the that the most talented people become principals. Identifying future leaders, and supporting educators and leaders on their path toward school leadership, can help ensure that the right individuals are in leadership positions with the right support. Offering career pathways is one way of supporting educators and leaders in becoming effective school leaders. Career pathways provide individuals with a differentiated sequence of career stages with increased compensation and responsibilities at each level.

How can my district use evaluation data to support this strategy?

Evaluation data can be used to identify educators for different career pathways, such as teacher leadership roles, mentoring positions or district advisory roles. This can help ensure educators and school leaders have leadership opportunities to maximize their potential. Additionally, data can be used to identify teachers with a proven track record of student growth to serve as mentor teaches. The data can also be used for strategic placement of novice or student teachers with these educators.

A district in the state of Texas replaces, on average, 16% of their teaching staff each year. These percentages tend to be higher for urban districts. Given the high number of new teachers every year, and the impact an effective teacher has on student success, districts need a strong teacher pipeline.

How can my district use evaluation data to support this strategy?

Evaluation data can be used to conduct a pipeline analysis of educator preparation programs and the effectiveness of program cohorts. This can help districts better understand which teacher preparation programs produce teachers well-equipped for success. With this information, a district can re-think recruitment practices for future hiring cycles. Additionally, the data can help a district identify specific supports for a new teacher based on that teacher's preparation program. Additionally, districts can improve their efforts to diversify their educator pipeline by promoting the ways they leverage evaluation data – differentiated professional development, differentiated compensation and career pathways – in the recruitment process. Finally, districts may also consider utilizing the ultimate “buying power” of a school district to drive systemic improvements in the teacher preparation programs. To better understand how a district can create a strong partnership with teacher preparation programs, visit Partnering on Prep: A Toolkit for Building Strong District Teacher Preparation Program Partnerships.

What you will find in the document:

• Information on the "how" - how to manage the stakeholder buy-in process of a large-scale change program in your district.
• "How-to guides" for specific change management activities related to the change program
  • e.g. leadership alignment workshops, risk assessment survey, Engagement Strategy development and execution, etc.

• Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) and Multi-Measure Evaluation-specific examples for change management elements.

What you will NOT find in the document:

• Information on the "what" - what the right solution design is for your district when considering a large scale change program (See Best-In-Class Resource guide).
• A step-by-step guide on the work required to implement the program itself (i.e. the solution)
  • For the ACE and Multi-Measure Evaluation project conception to launch, see the Best In Class Coalition ACE toolkit and Strategic Evaluation toolkit.

• Guidance on how to tailor ACE and Multi-Measure Evaluation systems to the needs of your district.

This table of contents will help you jump to the chapters you need.

This table of contents will help you jump to the chapters you need.

Learn more about the "Explore" chapter

Learn more about the "Plan" chapter

Learn more about the "Implement" chapter

Learn more about the "Improve" chapter

Review the appendix here

• District utilizes a research-based teacher evaluation system/rubric that meets the requirements of TEC 21.3521
• Teacher evaluation rubric is a nationally recognized rubric such as T-TESS, Marzano, Danielson, or NIET, or if district-created, is well aligned to nationally recognized rubrics and includes indicators of instructional effectiveness, supportive learning environments, data driven instruction, and teacher professionalism
• All indicators have detailed and observable descriptors and correlated performance levels

• The evaluation rubric should capture the holistic nature of teaching based on the premise idea that there is a cycle in teaching and learning that allows for an ongoing gauge of teacher effectiveness based on how students respond to their teacher’s instructional practices, both content knowledge and pedagogy
• For those reasons, the rubric should have observable domains focused on teachers and students rather than separating them out into separate domains
• A sound teacher evaluation rubric should include a process that seeks to develop habits of continuous improvement, and the process leads to that outcome when appraisers and teachers utilize dialogue and collaboration to solicit evidence-based feedback and targeted professional development

• Domain and dimensions of rubric should include specific descriptors of practices across performance levels
• Structure and language of the rubric should be written in a manner that routinely centers on interactions between teachers and students (see sample rubrics for example)
• The structure of the rubric should lend itself to collaborative conversations that result in improvements to a teacher’s instructional strategies, content knowledge, routines, and/or practices that result in improved learning and performance for students
• Professional development goals are designed for the year for teachers to reflect on and strengthen their instructional practices and content knowledge based on the rubric
• Areas identified should be aligned to specific domains and indicators within the rubric to be continuously assessed throughout the year
• Progress should be tracked towards professional development goals and includes the observer or appraiser, as needed, to support teacher success

• Educators (teachers and appraisers) should use the rubric to promote teacher self-reflection and leverage it as a coaching tool to strengthen their content knowledge, pedagogy and professional practices during pre- and post-conferences in both short and extended observations
• When the rubric clearly differentiates teaching practices and embeds feedback within
  each dimension and descriptor, teachers have an opportunity to reflect as they plan and deliver instruction

• Teachers receive annual extended observations with feedback and shorter observations with feedback consistently throughout the year
• Each year, district publishes requirements for number and type of observations to be used in rating teachers

A teacher’s summative evaluation for annual ratings may be based on extended, short, and informal observations

Annual Extended Observations

All teachers receive at least one extended observation, which consists of an unscheduled observation of at least 45 minutes, or one complete lesson, if less than 45 minutes

Shorter observations with frequent feedback throughout the year

One of the primary purposes of short observations is to provide teachers with frequent feedback to support growth. As such, teachers should receive written feedback within one to two working days from the evaluator that conducted the observation. Face-to-face feedback conversations are also highly recommended

Informal observations

Evaluators can observe teachers at any time, in any school setting, of any duration, and with any frequency deemed appropriate. The purpose is to provide teachers with constructive feedback to improve practice. Any observed actions, evidence, or artifacts may inform a teacher’s evaluation

• The extended observation should take place a single time for an extended time period•Rubric domains reflecting classroom instruction and learning environment should be rated and scored for the extended observation
• The shorter observations should be focused on a defined set of high-leverage indicators from the rubric such as those focused on developing and executing purposeful, highly effective, and rigorous instruction and those that are centered on building safe, supportive, and rigorous learning environments
• All teachers, regardless of proficiency rating, should receive short observations with written and/or face to face feedback throughout the year. The required number of observations may vary based on proficiency level
• Peer observations are allowable; however, only certified administrator evaluator observations should count toward requirement, most are used for coaching and feedback only

• Teacher evaluators are trained and/or certified annually on the teacher evaluation rubric
• District leadership implements a system for calibration within and among campuses

Calibration procedures help appraisers maintain scoring accuracy to avoid rater drift. “Rater drift” refers to changes, or gradual degradation, in rater behavior across different observations over time. Calibrations highlight appraiser behaviors for accurate scoring of teacher lessons, classroom practices and student performance against the rubric and training benchmarks. The calibration process is intended to identify and correct discrepancies in scoring and promote consistency across multiple appraisers to align final ratings. Strongly Calibrate Evaluators is a critical component for creating an evaluation system that is perceived as being fair and accurate by teachers by removing subjectivity and favoritism from the observation portion of the evaluation

• Establish a comprehensive evaluator certification protocol that includes, but is not limited to: in depth understanding of the evaluation system, rater accuracy to include calibration of the rubric and processes to establish inter-reliability of evaluators. Additionally, a field experience requirement could be part of the certification process to further strengthen the fairness and accuracy of the system. The certification process should be meaningful in the sense that it has implications on the job performance of the evaluator
• Certification process and calibration exercises should include viewing videos of teachers or live lessons and conducting debriefs focused on evidence collected to support ratings
• Calibration exercises should be conducted with principals and principal supervisors’ multiple times throughout the year of similar and varied courses and lessons; these can be full 45 minute observations as well as 10-15 minute classroom walks
• Campus based instructional coaches with evaluator certifications and other personnel whose role is to observe instruction and provide feedback to teachers, should be certified annually and participate in calibration exercises throughout the year
• Calibration should include the review of artifacts and student level data to triangulate and validate ratings
• Research shows that outside observers (i.e. campus administrators from other campuses and/or those in central campus positions) are least likely to bring bias to observation ratings, therefore campus calibration walks should include people from outside the campus to calibrate the principal rating
  
• Districts should monitor and audit observation data regularly to mitigate bias and inflation
• With the exception of the campus principal, appraisers should rotate the group of teachers they score in a manageable cadence for the campus to provide adequate coverage that is not repetitious from year to year and teacher to teacher
• Identify the 5-7 highest leverage behaviors on the selected rubric to have the system calibrated on first, and gradually move through the entire rubric as competency grows and allows (this does not mean the other behaviors are not important, but it can be overwhelming to instructional leaders and teachers to understand an entire rubric right away)
  

• Calibration is one of the most important and challenging elements of implementation for many evaluation systems. With the tendency for scores to be inflated over time, a district should consider measures that monitor and promote inter-rater reliability and taking ongoing action to maintain consistent scoring. Consider adding an inter-rater reliability measure into the principal evaluation as an extra layer to support the calibration of teacher evaluations

• District leadership analyzes the correlation between teacher observation scores and student growth

• Ensuring strong congruence between teacher observation and student growth is an essential tenet in a strongly calibrated teacher observation system
• Analyzing teacher observation trends, including year to year progressions, analysis by evaluator and analysis by school is imperative to an accurate and reliable assessment of teacher effectiveness

• District should analyze teacher observation scores with student growth scores to identify potential areas of misalignment. When possible, this should be done throughout the year using data from classroom walks and student data. At a minimum, this should be done annually using the teacher observation score and student growth scores•Creation of a data-tracking system that automatically flags when observational ratings are out of alignment with student growth targets and goals

• When implementing a new system that has not previously included student growth measures, analyzing congruence between teacher observation scores and student growth data will help better understand how to strengthen the existing system or create a new one
• Analyzing the congruence of the observation and student growth component can help to identify areas of concern with how the observation rubric is applied. It will often expose inflation concerns as well as those that may be scored lower than expected on observation rubric. Both require further investigation to understand underlying factors

• Principal managers and district leadership regularly analyze teacher observation trends across campuses, teaching assignments, and appraisers to look for and address potential ratings incongruities
• Principal managers and district leadership provide coaching and other supports in response to the observation data review to ensure accuracy and reliability across the district’s system

• Principal managers use observation data, student achievement data to improve accuracy and reliability of the observation system. Principal managers create the conditions for well calibrated observations across the system of schools under their leadership

• Principal manager observes principals and campus leadership team during ongoing campus calibrations and provides coaching to the campus principal; timing can be after receiving data on nine-week tests and/or semester exams•Principal manager reviews observation data and corresponding student data for trends with principal and campus leadership team to create actionable support plans for high leverage next steps
• Conduct routine audit of observation ratings and student achievement in set intervals throughout the year (i.e. nine-week test and/or semester exams) to identify trends and address incongruences

• Principal and Principal manager collects data and studies high leverage coaching strategies that result in improved practice and replication through individual and campus wide professional development
• District leverages observation data to target professional development needs identified across multiple sites to maximize economies of scale and provide wide access to shared resources district-wide

• There is a clearly communicated plan for how student growth measures affect a teacher’s annual summative ratings
• Student growth measures are clearly defined and used for all teachers put forth for designation
• Multiple demonstrations of student learning are used to measure student growth

• The Teacher Incentive Allotment requires the inclusion of a student growth measure because it provides a richer, more comprehensive picture of student learning. A measure of absolute student performance indicates the performance of a student at one point in time while a student growth measure indicates the progress of a student over time
• The measures used in a teacher’s evaluation should be clearly defined and communicated prior to the beginning of the school year

• Comprise a teacher’s achievement score with multiple measures of student growth when other student growth measures are available
• Student growth measures are recommended to be a minimum of 30% of the overall evaluation•Create teacher focus groups, by teacher category, to provide input and build buy-in
• The available student growth measures will vary based on teaching assignment
• Create a guidebook to provide transparency in rules/procedures, including rules and procedures around calculations, minimum number of scores required, adjustment to measures when data is not available

• Remove subjective Student Growth measures, such as student portfolios, whenever possible•Refrain from changing measures once the school year has begun
• Strengthen testing protocols for assessments that are included in evaluation
• Transparency of calculations will be important to build trust; this includes all calculations (student growth, other components, and other calculation methodology)

• District utilizes student growth measures such as:–Value-added measures based on STAAR or other normed, valid tests–Student learning objectives–Student portfolios–Pre- and post-tests
• Assessments used to measure student growth are valid and reliable
• Assessments used to measure student growth are implemented with fidelity, according to vetted testing protocols

• The use of multiple assessments that can be used to measure student achievement growth, either during the year and/or year-over-year. Assessments could include state standardized assessments, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), I-Station, ITBS, or any other standard assessment used district-wide. The assessments must go through a district process to ensure the validity and reliability of the testing instrument
• There are different types of student growth measures that provide different types of information. Below you will find details on three of the most common student growth measures. The first two measures are objective measures based on common assessments while the last is a subjective measure, dependent on teacher and principal judgement:
  • (i) Student growth percentiles (SGPs): This is a measure that uses a student’s past performance to determine a student’s current performance compared to the student’s peers
  • (ii) Value-added model (VAM): This is a measure that determines the impact of an educator or school on student learning and controls for factors outside of a teacher’s control that influence student achievement
  • (iii) Student learning objectives (SLOs): This is a measure of student progress based on student growth goals set by teachers

• Comprise a teacher’s achievement score with multiple measures of student growth whenever possible
• Student growth measures are recommended to be a minimum of 30% of the overall evaluation
• Create teacher focus groups, by teacher content area, to provide input and build buy-in
• The available student growth measures will vary based on teaching assignment
• Create a guidebook to provide transparency in rules/procedures, including rules and procedures around calculations, minimum number of scores required, adjustment to measures when data is not available

• Remove subjective Student Growth measures, such as student portfolios
• If including SLOs, consider using standard SLOs by grade/content area instead of individual set SLOs. In a district that has used individual created SLOs, over 80% of teachers will receive all or almost all of the student growth points
• Refrain from changing measures once the school year has begun
• Strengthen testing protocols for assessments that are included in evaluation to remove the appearance of or opportunity for manipulation of student outcomes
• Transparency of calculations will be important to build trust
• Districts who are interested in using VAM should ensure they appropriately train teachers to understand the measure and give educators time to familiarize themselves with the model

• Campus and district leaders disaggregate and analyze student growth trends in multiple ways, including by student groups, teaching assignments, and schools, as well as historical student growth data, to ensure results are accurate and reliable
• District has appropriate internal procedures to evaluate outlier trends in the data in order to detect and prevent irregularities

• It is critical for a district to ensure high levels of validity and reliability of student growth for several reasons
  • Instill confidence of district teachers and leaders in the measures, that they are accurately capturing the contribution of the teachers
  • Meet data validation step required as a part of the Teacher Incentive Allotment. This step is completed by Texas Tech University; Texas Tech reviews a district data with four criteria which involve looking for expectedrelations AND similarity between district data results and statewide VAM results
    • (i) Agreement between observation and growth: Correlation between teacher observation ratings and teacher’s student growth rubric ratings
    • (ii) Agreement between district growth ratings and statewide VAM results: Correlation between teacher student growth rubric ratings and Value-Add Measure
    • (iii) Consistency of observations across campuses and assignments: Degree of inter-rater reliability for observation and growth ratings
    • (iv) Designation frequency is comparable to other districts with the same Domain 2A rating: Comparison of district designation percentage to overall statewide performance

• School leadership & campus leadership & data teams review student growth data as available. At a minimum, we recommend reviewing trends after mid-year assessments. A full review should be completed annually
• School leadership & campus leadership teams review student growth data and observation data to identify calibration/congruence issues. At a minimum, an annual review of the congruence data should be completed. It is recommended that leading indicator data, when available, such as classroom observation data and growth data from mid-year assessments be studied to identify potential areas of concern
• Perform ongoing analysis of evaluation data can also help mitigate for potential bias in observations or in student growth measures such as portfolios and SLOs. At a minimum, we recommend a review to identify trends in teacher category and teacher demographics to ensure that there are not underlying systemic issues in the measures themselves or in the application of the measures

• Transparency of calculations will be important to build trust•Provide resources (locally created or from the creator of the assessment) to understand calculation methodology and data reports

• District engagement
  • Stakeholder groups include, at minimum, teachers, principals, community members, and school board members
  • District conducts extensive outreach and robust stakeholder input in order to develop:
    • A thoroughly vetted system to designate highly effective teachers
    • A clear plan that details the compensation highly effective teachers would receive
  • District leadership and school board members can articulate the local designation system
  • District gathers teacher feedback on the local designation system annually via focus groups, surveys, etc.
• Campus engagement
  • Annually, all campuses provide time at the beginning of the school year to review the district’s local designation system with teachers, with additional support provided for new teachers
  • Principals are thoroughly trained and informed on all aspects of the designation plan
  • Principals play a key role in implementing and gathering feedback on the plan
• Community engagement
  • District has a mechanism in place by which to gauge community buy-in
  • Prior to the data capture year, district will publish public-facing documents, including a list of FAQs, clearly outlining their local designation system
  • Multiple opportunities are available for the larger school community to gather information such as webinars, PD sessions, website, etc.

• The highest and best purpose of an evaluation system is supporting teacher growth and ensuring that students are taught by high quality teachers. It is important for district leadership to give a detailed presentation highlighting the “why” for the strategic evaluation initiative to all stakeholder groups, including how they envision implementing the changes to the evaluation system within the district; allowing plenty of time for questions and mutual understanding. Doing this on the front end will avoid conflicts down the road when implementation of program components begins
• It is important to remember that teachers and principals will be the ones implementing the evaluation system every day and so district leaders need to engage them continuously to build buy-in, understanding and get feedback on what’s working and what could be improved. Districts that have led change successfully have done so after significant stakeholder engagement and can honestly say that stakeholder input drove the changes

• Identify key voices to include in system development and implementation planning teams
• Sponsorship is not an appointment, sponsors are those who people look to for direction, and who deliver clear and credible messages
• Identify sponsors from the bottom-up, start with the most impacted stakeholders, and identify who can deliver to them a credible communication and gather feedback
• Cascade sponsorship from the top-down, all sponsors are targets first and must be enrolled and committed before they can enroll their direct reports
• Create engagement calendar/workplan, aligning feedback loops with system development and implementation
• Create feedback channels beyond events, including FAQs and email/phone contacts
• Change management and communication is critical for districts implementing a value-added measure (VAM)
• Educators may already have some assumptions, or misconceptions, around VAM so it is important that district’s provide clear communication and information to leaders and educators
• Simple, continuous messaging, discussions, and participation; this includes messaging about the TIA, timeline of implementation, next steps in the evaluation cycle, and gathering input and feedback along the way to identify improvement areas
• Networked and two-way, with active listening & acknowledgement (e.g., focus groups or change program hotline)
  

• The framing and messaging around changing the evaluation system and the evaluation system in general should never focus on judging, sorting or getting rid of the worst teachers
• One of the biggest mistakes leaders can make is assuming that teachers, school leaders and parents will quickly get on board with changes to evaluation systems. Change can create discomfort or cause confusion and the growth measures in particular can be very hard to understand

• District gathers and considers teacher input throughout the development of the local designation plan and continues to gather teacher feedback on the plan once it is in use
• District employs a method to ensure clear teacher understanding of the local designation system, such as teacher surveys or teacher interviews
• Information sessions are held annually specifically to inform teachers and gather input as part of a continuous improvement cycle
• Teacher leaders play a key role in implementing and gathering feedback on the plan

• The range of teacher experiences and perspectives should be evident and woven throughout the fabric of the plan from inception through implementation. There should be an ongoing process of inclusion to solicit and utilize teacher feedback on how the range of designations can impact teachers

• Begin planning your TIA Teacher Advisory Cabinet and teacher engagement effort six to 12 months before your application is due. While this timeline can be flexible to meet the needs of the district, it is important to leave ample time for focus groups, surveys, and rigorous analysis of those important inputs from teachers throughout your district. Below is a sample timeline:
  • (i) Recruitment & Selection of the TIA Teacher Advisory Cabinet: 1 month
  • (ii) Preparing for Teacher Focus Groups & Survey: 1 month
  • (iii) Teacher Focus Groups & Survey: 6 weeks
  • (iv) Data Analysis, Recommendations & Presentation: 1 month
• Some districts have found it useful to engage with stakeholders about the components of the local designation system (which observation rubric to use, which student growth measure to use, what other components are important, etc.) first and then subsequently engage about the compensation piece (how much will flow to the designated teacher, when will the compensation be received, etc.). In order to do this using this system, you would select the TIA Advisory Cabinet and then conduct the data collection, analysis, and presentation timeline (steps 2-4) for the designation system and then again for the associated compensation

• Using an application process for the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) Teacher Advisory Cabinet ensures that the cabinet is composed of teachers best suited for the work and also allows the district to ensure that a variety of teachers from various grade levels, contents, and neighborhoods are represented. We recommend that you pay each Cabinet member a stipend for their time and effort
• Here are a set of sample application questions and a sample application review process

• You should begin the process by conducting two meetings to train the Teacher Advisory Cabinet on the components of the TIA and design the focus group protocol and teacher survey, and help Advisory Cabinet members prepare to lead focus groups
• Following these preparation meetings, the Teacher Advisory Cabinet members should lead focus groups with teachers across the district, and the district should administer a survey to all teachers via emailHere are suggested agendas for the Teacher Advisory Cabinet meetings and a sample slide deck for the first meeting of the Cabinet.
• Here is a sample of the types of focus group/survey questions you may use (though the questions should be reviewed by the Cabinet to ensure they fit your district’s needs)

• Once the focus groups and surveys are complete, the district should conduct two-to-three meetings to train the teachers to analyze the data, determine recommendations, and prepare their presentation. Once the Cabinet has analyzed the data and finalized their recommendations, the Cabinet should present their recommendations regarding the design of the TIA Plan to the district decision-makers
• Here is a Data Analysis Worksheet that Teacher Advisory Cabinet members can use to analyze the open-ended responses from the focus group questionnaire and the district-wide teacher survey. Here is a template that the teachers can use to present their recommendations and rationale

• Teacher leaders should be identified across campuses, disciplines and grade levels to serve as representatives to be engaged in this district-wide process; the teacher leaders should be representative of the overall teaching staff in terms of years of service, subject area, race/ethnicity, age, and gender
• Frequency of engagement for teacher representatives should be regular and integral to the process
• Teacher understandings can be validated through a range of mechanisms, including teacher surveys, town halls and campus-based focus groups

• Teacher representatives should be included in development teams and ongoing improvement teams. As representatives of their peers, those selected should be primed with the understanding that their role is dually to speak on behalf of their peers, in addition to providing their own unique understanding and perspective to how decisions and plans are shaped

• District engages in extensive planning and preparation over the course of at least one school year prior to implementation of the local designation plan

• High-level framework of the questions a district will address in the development of their Teacher Incentive Allotment plan
  • (i) Who will be eligible?
    • Phased in approach – begin with subset of teachers and campuses
    • All certified teachers in a PEIMS code 087
  • (ii) What measurements do you have available to include in student achievement?
    • Current student achievement/student growth measures
    • Student growth measures that could be added
  • (iii) What steps do you need to strengthen teacher observation calibration?
    • Keep current rubric or develop new observation rubric? Recommend T-TESS or Danielson
    • Calibration sessions with school leadership team to develop district definitions of excellence
    • Additional training for evaluators/teachers, including coaching/feedback conversations
    • Development of exemplar videos
    • Calibration walks with administrative teams on campus>Calibration walks with cross-district teams

• High-level framework of the questions a district will address in the development of their Teacher Incentive Allotment plan (cont.):
  • (iv) How will you weigh each component in overall evaluation?
    • We recommend that student achievement be at least 30%. With many selecting 35%.
    • Observations range from 50–60%
    • Additional components – TEA allows you to consider optional measures to include for determining who to put forward for the designation
      • Teacher leadership roles
      • Professional development
      • School-wide growth measure
      • Teacher attendance
  • (v) How will you determine who will be put forward for the state designations?
  • (vi) How will you distribute the funds for teachers who earn the designation?
    • HB3 requires 90% to be used for teacher compensation for teachers on that campus, but there is local flexibility for what/how this will look

• Create Core Team. Include members from the following departments:
  • Superintendent cabinet – LEAD for Teacher Incentive Allotment
  • Human resources–Budget/Finance
  • School leadership
  • Evaluation & assessment
  • Communications
• Hold the ambition & intent workshop and the commitment workshop
• Create a standing meeting for a minimum of 2 months
• Create sub-committees, using the frame of the TIA application to identify committee areas
• Create a calendar to break-down interim targets & to identify stakeholder engagement sessions
• Create process to identify sponsors from the bottom-up, start with the most impacted stakeholders, and identify who can deliver to them a credible communication and gather feedback

• Develop a common understanding for your district’s “why” to ground the work
• Start with the questions outlined above to create frame for the district approach for TIA
• Leverage sub-committees to ensure work is distributed across team members

• The district provides resources for its local designation system including:
  • Written guidelines for: a) all aspects of the teacher appraisal system, b) how the allotment money fits in with the district’s current salary schedule, c) timelines for teacher payout, and d) specific guidelines for student growth measures
  • A website with clearly accessible information both for district staff and the public
  • Detailed resource manuals for teachers, campus and district leaders, and other interested stakeholders

• Creating clear resources, tools and policies outlining the Teacher Incentive Allotment is an important step in building the transparency and trust in this program. Although this is a state initiative, there is a great deal of local control in determining the context and application. Providing the resources to help teachers and other district personnel (including board members and campus leaderships) is an important step in implementing a program
• This work should include the communications department, budget department as well as the human resources/employee relations

• Identify a lead from the communications department for this work stream•Include a lead from the employee relations department for this work stream
• Include a lead from the budget department for this work stream•Start the development of communication materials as you begin your district development of the Teacher Incentive Allotment
• A separate webpage to house Teacher Incentive Allotment information makes it easy to find for all stakeholders and allows for district to continue to add resources as developed
• Clear information on the system, including rules, policies and timeline, should be available and communicated to teachers and evaluators prior to the start of each evaluation cycle
• Include the communications lead in the system development meetings, to build a deeper understanding of the program and to help shape the messaging throughout the process
• Include human resources/employee relations in the system development meetings to ensure design is in compliance with state and local policies and to identify needed modifications to local policies•Include the budget department in the system development meetings to ensure design of the payout schedule is financially sustainable for the district
• Compensation information on the TIA should be included in the annual compensation handbook
• District should develop policies regarding impact to the teacher’s TIA payout when a change in assignment required by the district and/or campus that may result in a lower TIA award or movement to a position that is not TIA eligible
  
• District should develop policies regarding transfer policies: Will movement outside of the transfer window be allowed? Will a position on a campus with a higher TIA payout equal a promotion? Do you need guidelines for competition/recruitment within district for TIA designated teachers
• District should revisit DK, assignment & schedules policy. Is there alignment with the modifications made to the evaluation system, to the TIA identification process
• District should develop policies regarding TIA submission: Will you require the teacher to still be employed with your district to be submitted for TIA? Is there a minimum number of days to be eligible for consideration, late hires, extended leaves of absence be addressed? Will you require that they still be in a teaching role? Will you have an appeal process? Or use existing grievance policy
  

• Develop a common understanding for your district’s “why” to ground the work
• Start with the questions outlined above to create frame for the district approach for TIA
• Leverage sub-committees to ensure work is distributed across team members

• District leadership and school board members are able to articulate understanding of TIA, including details around issuing designations at each of the three designation levels and potential implications for funding, etc.

• The robust communications plan anchored in a research based change management framework should be articulated to top leaders and school board members that explicitly provides the rationale for the evaluation change. It should include an extensive engagement plan as well as details of pathways for teachers to earn designations. TIA workshops for top level leaders with multiple opportunities to be informed, sense make and build consensus aligned to district priorities and goals, offers an opportunity to strengthen buy in at top levels of leadership at the onset of TIA

• Engage in Change Management workshops early on to communicate rationale for the evaluation change. Garner consensus and public commitment to follow through, identify potential risks and begin developing mitigation plans early in the design and roll out process. (The committee of leaders engaged in the change management process can be the communicators of the plan and the outcome of the sessions to the Board to show a broad level of support across departments and levels of employee)
• Create an approval timeline with key decisions, stakeholders and dates outlined
• Enroll stakeholders across the organization from key departments (e.g.Finance, Special Populations, Fine Arts), as well as campus leadership and teachers, in the early phases of change management to garner early support and understand the needs and perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups
• Offer ongoing workshops with high level overviews to understand how the designations work, general systems design and updates
• Provide printed and video materials to access and reference and serve as an instrument for information sharing
• Superintendent and district leadership should engage early with the Board to make sure there is a clear understanding of what the TIA is and what it is not, and to share the district’s initial thinking on how to implement

• Districts should develop a website dedicated to outlining the teacher incentive allotment, how it will be implemented district-wide and how it will impact teachers
• Publicly identify the voices who are contributing to the development of the teacher incentive allotment
• Clear and concise board presentations (in a public setting) should be given at key stages in the process (initiation of planning. Application submission, feedback from TEA on application/data verification)

• Establishing a schedule for regular communication to all stakeholders for each step of the rollout process
• Providing an opportunity for stakeholder feedback, based on communication releases
• Establishing clear communication around which groups of teachers on which campuses will be eligible to earn designations, according to district’s local designation system

• Creation of thorough communications strategy should be outlined to show how each key stakeholder (teachers, superintendents, principals, etc.) will be provided with multiple opportunities to be informed and to provide feedback in a cyclical manner across the district.

• Identify and organize stakeholders into groups based on their proximity to the impact and involvement in the new system, to determine how to best customize the strategy for their engagement and communications methods
• Outline when and how communication needs to take place with each stakeholder to ensure they are adequately informed, sufficiently understand and are provided with multiple opportunities to insert feedback.
• Identify “sponsors” (not appointments) as representatives within their given stakeholder group that are willing to deliver clear and credible messages, able to field questions from colleagues, and available to serve as a trusted liaison.
• Include a communications lead in the TIA system development team. This will help in the development of meaningful and timely materials, and the communications lead can help identify opportunities for stakeholder engagement.
• Create a district email to collect and respond to stakeholder and community questions and concerns

• Assemble a communications team whose primary responsibilities include assisting with stakeholder engagement, creating resources and forums to share information and leveraging existing departments within the district to implement these efforts.
• Provide printed and video materials for each target stakeholder group to access and reference to deepen knowledge, serve as instrument for information sharing, and provide a space for feedback and engagement.
• Districts should develop a website dedicated to outlining the teacher incentive allotment, how it will be implemented district-wide and how it will impact different stakeholders.

• Develop and implement communication plan to inform teachers, prior to the beginning of the data capture year, of the specific requirements for both teacher observation and student growth in order to be eligible to earn designations
• Helping teachers understand the performance descriptors for each TIA designation level (Recognized, Exemplary, Master) and providing supports to help teachers earn designations
• Ensuring that teachers are aware of how earning designations will affect their current salary, including details around how teachers’ pay may change, if applicable

• The comprehensive nature of the plan should be articulated thoroughly showing explicitly how teacher designations are defined and ways teachers can increase the likelihood of achieving a desired designation. Create an exhaustive engagement strategy to outline how each key stakeholder (teachers, superintendents, principals, etc.) will be provided with multiple opportunities to be informed, then concentrate on the areas where teachers will be targeted to ensure the message, the channel and the timing for each engagement has been adequately planned

• Outline when and how communication needs to take place with teachers to adequately inform and ensure they understand the impact of each TIA designation on their salary
• Offer multiple opportunities for teachers to receive trainings to understand how the designations work and apply within the system
• Identify teacher “sponsors” (not appointments) willing to deliver clear and credible messages, able to field questions from colleagues, and willing to serve as a trusted peer liaison

• Include a Communications leader whose primary responsibilities include assisting with teacher engagement, creating resources and forums to share information and leveraging existing departments within the district to assist with these efforts
• Provide printed and video materials for teachers to access and reference to deepen teacher knowledge and serve as instrument for information sharing
• Districts should develop a website dedicated to outlining the teacher incentive allotment, how it will be implemented district-wide and how it will impact teachers

• Gathering input, prior to TIA implementation, from district leadership, principals, teachers, community members, and other interested parties on how to spend allotment funds
• Using stakeholder input to inform decisions about how funds will be spent at the campus and district levels

• Per statute, 90% (10% of the funds may be set aside for district support of TIA implementation) of the funds drawn down from the Teacher Incentive Allotment must be spent on compensation for teachers at the campus in which the teacher is assigned. To ensure confidence in the compensation plan developed and approved by a district, stakeholder engagement is a necessary process, and it should include (but is not limited to):
  • Presenting to and gathering feedback from
    • District central administration
    • Campus principals
    • Teachers and other campus personnel
    • Community members
    • Other district stakeholders as defined
  • Using feedback loops to inform the district decision on how the funds will be utilized

• Large-scale change programs such as the TIA affect different groups of people in different ways and at different times. In order to ensure success, it is imperative to identify the stakeholders (within each position group) who impact the TIA compensation plan and who are affected by it:
  • Create focus groups (ie; principal focus group, teacher task force / expert committee
  • Create opportunities for engagement and feedback through different mediums (ie; in-person meetings, town hall presentations, digital platforms such as surveys)
  • Ensure that feedback received is acted upon, even if it is in a small way
    • Going through a stakeholder engagement process which will utilize individual’s time, but then not listening to that feedback will have negative impacts on the overall implementation of the program
• When deciding on “community members” and “other stakeholders,” to engage, identify which stakeholder groups should be prioritized in order to achieve the expected outcomes with the limited time and resources to do this engagement
  • Are there individuals or external organizations who are often engaged in district decision making process and must be included (or the inverse, are there groups or individuals who will cause a disruption in the process if they are not included)
• Different stakeholder groups will be impacted at different times during the implementation process, so stakeholder engagement on this should be iterative and ongoing

• Identify all of the employee, organizations (internal and external), and individuals that need to be involved in the process on the front end, and build out a comprehensive plan to meet those needs
• District leaders should be prepared to present on a framework of an idea during the engagement (as opposed to a blank slate which will be overwhelming), and have identified specific decision points where engagement and feedback will be considered
• Be transparent and honest on why decisions are being made and why district leadership is thinking in a certain way
• Feedback must be used and be visible to the groups that were engaged (when presenting a final plan, call out where a decision point was impacted by stakeholder feedback, and how)

• Developing a clear plan on how to use up to 10% of the district’s allotment (if any) on implementing TIA and/or supporting teachers in earning designations
• Developing a plan for ongoing support in order to build capacity across the district
• Communicating this plan to teachers, district staff, and other interested parties, including looping back to all stakeholder groups

• Per statute, 10% of the funds from the TIA may be set aside for district support of TIA implementation for the following purposes:
  • (i) Costs associated with implementing the Teacher Incentive Allotment – may include:
    • District staff capacity
    • Technological system enhancements
    • Data collection and analytical needs
  • (ii) Supporting and developing teachers in earning state designations – may include:
    • Teacher professional development
    • Calibration training on observational rubric
    • Conferences and symposiums for continuing education

• As a district leadership team, identify the highest impact “system needs” of the district when it comes to supporting the implementation of the Teacher Incentive Allotment and determine:
  • Systems that are in place and ready to go
  • Systems that are functional, but could be improved to more effectively support implementation
  • Systems that are required, but not currently in place
• Identify the highest leverage inputs a district can provide to support and develop teachers in earning state designations – this will be mostly focused on professional development (internal and externally led) for teachers to increase student growth in their classroom
  • Utilize a stakeholder engagement process to get feedback from teachers and principals on the highest leverage professional development activities they would like the district to invest in
• TIA funds may be used to target professional development of all teachers, including those who have already earned TIA designation, as well as those still developing in their skills. Professional Development is most effective when it is differentiated based on the individual needs of the teacher

• Remember the 10% set-aside for system support and educator development is optional and if those dollars are needed to remain competitive for the designated teacher, 100% of the funds may go to the teacher for purposes of compensation
• The optional set-aside funding is the best way to impact all teacher on a campus for the purposes of professional development – the more everyone feels included in the Teacher Incentive Allotment process, the more positively TIA will be received by teachers (remember, state designations are for performance of teachers relative to the entire state, so it is unlikely a large percentage of teachers in a single district will earn designations)

• Abiding by the spending requirements in TEC 48.112 which includes spending at least 90% of TIA funds awarded to the district on teacher compensation on the campuses where the designated teacher works
• Developing a plan for how to allocate the funds flowing to campuses for teacher compensation, such as what percent will go to designated teachers and what percent will go toward other teacher compensation on the campus, if any
• Providing rationale for their spending decisions which support districts goals for student achievement, teacher recruitment, and teacher retention

• The use of TIA funds for teacher compensation is a critical decision in the TIA development process for a district and is a decision point that will have many inputs from stakeholder groups and district leaders, andmust be aligned to big-picture district strategies, priorities, and goals. When developing a TIA compensation plan for teachers, the following must be considered:
  • (i) Ensure 90% of the funds due to the designated teacher(s) on a campus are spent on compensation for teachers on that campus (it is important to remember that funds “earned” by a designated teacher are not automatically allocated to that teacher; the district has discretion)
  • (ii) The district will be required to have a board approved compensation policy for the disbursement of funds
  • (iii) Ensure the compensation plan aligns to stated district goals on student achievement/growth, teacher recruitment, and teacher retention (these goals are of course going to be different across districts)
    • These would include board aligned goals, district strategic priorities, and any task force recommendations (ie; district advisory council)

• It will be critical to annually evaluate how the TIA implementation and compensation plan align to district goals on student achievement, teacher recruitment and retention
• Think strategically on how these funds can uniquely impact teacher recruitment and retention within the district:–If the district is significantly behind other regional districts in total compensation, it may be necessary to allocate all the money to the designated teacher in order to retain an effective educator, or recruit new talent into the district
  • If the district has a perpetually underperforming campus and is interested in pursuing a strategic compensation / campus restart initiative, the TIA is a perfect opportunity to support stipends for teachers in all positions on a campus:
    • For example: If a district were able to recruit 10 designated teachers to a high-poverty campus (tier 4 or 5 on the compensatory education tiers) and the collective funding from the Teacher Incentive Allotment due to those ten teacher designations was $150,000, a district could award 50% of the funds to the designated teachers ($75,000) and then utilize the other $75,000 for stipends to other teacher positions on the campus who are effective teachers based on a district definition, but have not reached the state designation level. This approach is not only great for students in terms of equity in educator effectiveness, but is a great retention strategy for a district’s effective educators

• Utilize the required stakeholder engagement process to listen to teachers and other stakeholders when developing a plan – make sure there is buy-in from the beginning and if a decision is made that is counter to feedback, ensure there is appropriate “sense-making” on why a certain decision was made and how it aligns to the broader district goals, vision and priorities
• Districts that are using a phased-in approach, beginning TIA with a smaller subset of teachers, frequently leverage a shared model (often 75% to the TIA designated teacher, 15% available to share) to increase support across all teaching groups. As additional teaching assignments are added for TIA eligibility, a greater portion of the TIA designated dollars are awarded to the teacher
• A district’s compensation plan is likely going to be influenced by regional factors and those must be taken into consideration (for example, if all surrounding districts in a region are allocating 75% of the funds to the designated teacher, and your district’s plan is to allocate 50% to the teacher, there is a real likelihood the designated teachers will look to work elsewhere where the compensation for their work is greater)

• Remember this policy can be adjusted year to year, so it is important to implement continuous feedback loops for the purposes of iteration and improvement
• The TIA funds will follow a teacher if they change campuses or leave the district. If plans are used for compensation for teachers on the campus who do not hold the TIA designation, the campus should have a consistent approach for how compensation will be adjusted if the TIA designated teacher is no longer at the campus
• Effective teachers are not going to make decisions solely based on money, so make sure to take into account all of the factors that go into a teacher’s decision making process on where to work (ie. working conditions, principal leadership, opportunity for professional development, and leadership opportunities / career pathways)

• Creating a plan for how the district will handle compensation for designated teachers who move across campuses within the district from year to year
• Creating a plan for how the district will handle compensation for mid-year transfers of designated teachers across campuses within the district

• TIA funds for designated teachers are based on the TIA allocation formula of the campus at which the teacher is assigned, but it is important to remember the funding follows the teacher if she/he transfers to a different campus, either at the end of the year or mid-year. Furthermore, due to the fact that the dollar amount awarded to a district for a teacher designation is based on the Compensatory Education Tier of the campus in which she/he works, if a transfer takes place, it is likely the dollar amount for that designated teacher will also adjust accordingly. Districts will need to have a plan that addresses:
  • (i) The transfer of a designated teacher to a different campus in between school years
  • (ii) The transfer of a designated teacher to a different campus during the school year
• These plans can be very straightforward (ie; the district compensation plan dictates the designated teacher receives 100% or 90% of the funds, and this plan does not differentiate by type of campus or for district initiatives that apply to a subset of campuses), or quite complicated if the TIA compensation plan has a different percentage being awarded to the designated teacher depending on the type of campus she/he teaches or a specific initiative that may be taking place on a specific campus

• A district should create a clear a concise policy outlining the compensation plan for designated teachers under the Teacher Incentive Allotment based on the compensatory education poverty tier of campus – with this being in place, designated teachers will have a clear understanding of the financial implications of moving campuses
• If using TIA dollars to help fund strategic initiative on a campus, the district should ensure there is an ample reserve in the general fund to continue funding the initiative if a teacher(s) transfer from the campus, as the state money follows the designated teacher

• Remember this policy can be adjusted year to year, so it is important implement continuous feedback loops for the purposes of iteration and improvement
• The district may need to consider funding implications for the teacher if change in campus assignment is made by the district, such as re-assignment as a result in staff leveling
• The district may need to consider the funding implications for teachers that may be receiving shared compensation if change in campus assignment is made by the district, such as re-assignment as a result in staff leveling
• Effective teachers are not going to make decisions solely based on money, so transfers are going to take place based on all of the factors that go into a teacher’s decision making process on where to work (ie; working conditions, principal leadership, opportunity for professional development, and leadership opportunities / career pathways)

• District human resources office is well versed in TIA and can articulate how each of the three designation levels affect the district’s overall recruitment and retention plans
• District human resources office publishes clear information regarding how the TIA designation levels tie to current staffing policies

• The development and implementation of a strong teacher incentive model requires a coordinated approach between many district departments, including but not limited to Human Resources, School Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction and Evaluation and Assessment. It is imperative that these departments are all speaking the same “language” when communicating to stakeholders, especially teachers, and that resources are readily available to explain the model and answer any questions that may arise
• Specifically, a district Human Resources department should understand and be able to clearly articulate the “why” for a district pursuing the Teacher Incentive Allotment, and how each of the three teacher designation levels layer into a broader retention and recruitment strategy for the district. Furthermore, as the TIA could influence teacher movement between campuses (as there is greater incentive for a designated teacher to teach in a high poverty tier campus), there need to be clear guidelines for campus principals on staffing policies (many of which are outlined in other “success factors” in this toolkit; teacher transfer policies, compensation plans, professional development opportunities etc.)

• A district should create a central hub of information on a website (most likely on the human resources page where there is a tab for “about the district”). This could also live on the employment and compensation tab, as it a district initiative to compensate effective educators in the district strategically
• Prior to communication publicly to the district about the Teacher Incentive Allotment, the district should create a task-force or committee that cross-cuts departments and position titles (certainly including HR) to align on the messaging by stakeholder group (ie; teachers, principals, parents, etc) so that everyone is speaking the same language
  • Once this process takes place, it will be an expectation that task force members communicate the information down/up throughout their specific department and will become the lead contact in the department for questions or concerns that may arise
• If possible, a district should identify a Teacher Incentive Allotment “lead” position to oversee the communications and rollout of the initiative, as well as monitoring its implementation and progress over time. Depending on a districts budget, this could be a new position or a repurposing of a position, but in either circumstance, the work is too critical to the overall district goals on recruitment and retention to not have the full attention of at least one FTE
• In the beginning of implementation, it would behoove a district to create a TIA “hotline” for teachers to ask questions and get to speak to an “expert” in live-time – this would require the hotline to be available in off hours, either before school or in the early evening when teachers are available
• A district should clearly identify how the three state designation levels align to in-district evaluation ratings, as well as clearly communicating the supports and development the district will provide to teachers who have not earned a designation, or for teachers who are striving to earn a higher designation. This process will allow for buy-in across the system
  

• There are a lot of moving parts with an initiative like the Teacher Incentive Allotment, so it is important to be aligned on the messaging to ensure it is streamlined and concise
• The relationship between human resources and school leadership is critical, as calibration and student growth are the key components for the end-of-year date to be validated. As questions and concerns arise from the campus level, it should be the role of human resources to be in-service to campuses and provide support and assistance. The communication/feedback loop will most likely fail if the direction is always human resources dictating information to other departments, especially those that are campus based
• Any TIA system that is implemented should always be tied back to professional development and support. This is true for teachers who have not earned a designation and want to grow and develop to do so (it is also in the best interest of the district to pursue this as growing and retaining talent is critical to long-term success), but also important for the high-flier teachers who earned a designation and want to continue to strive for excellence

• District has clear plan for handling potential changes to the allotment funds a district receives from year to year, based on the allotment funding calculation
• District clearly communicates to teachers at the beginning of the year any changes to the TIA amounts that teachers will receive during that school year
• Payroll office develops a clear system for payment of allocation dollars to the teachers who the local designation plan identifies as eligible to receive funding
• Timelines for payouts are clearly communicated

• Budget services and payroll are intricately linked when implementing a strategic compensation strategy, and it is important for there to not only be strong communication between those departments and with other central departments such as Human Resources, but for there also to be clear and concise communication to campus personnel (teachers) on how and when designation payouts will be disbursed. There is significant local control in this area, as each district budget and financial situation is different, so as with any large-system change, collecting input and feedback from teachers and other stakeholders on what they would like to see is critical
• As dollars generated by the Teacher Incentive Allotment follows the teachers who have earned the designation, it does create some uncertainty from a budgetary standpoint on the amount of revenue that will be generated year over year (especially given teacher transfer windows and staffing decisions are often times finalized after a district budget is developed and adopted for the following school year). This creates an imperative for the financial leadership of a district to create a system of projections and assumptions (similar to what is done for “FTE fill rates”) of teacher designations and financial awards to build out an accurate budget

• A district should create a “compensation guide-book” for the Teacher Incentive Allotment that clearly outlines the following:
  • Compensation plan developed by the district (ie; designation level and the breakdown of compensation by campus poverty tier)
  • Payroll schedule with dates and amount for the incentive funding
  • Changes from the prior year to the compensation process or payroll schedule and an explanation of why changes were made
• Create a new budget code of Teacher Incentive Allotment dollars so they can be easily tracked and reported on by teacher and by campus
• Ensure the “operating systems” used by finance and payroll can communicate with the human resources system that will identify which teachers have earned a designation and the campus poverty tier of that campus which will determine the financial award

• Nothing will get a district off-track quicker than teachers who have earned a designation not receiving their incentive pay in a timely manner as determined by the district. Just as districts create a schedule for payouts of stipends with dates and amounts, the same schedule should be created for the Teacher Incentive Allotment. This schedule should be posted publicly on the website and also shared with every campus
• The district should identify a liaison who ensures coordination of communication and accuracy of financial disbursements between the human resources, budget/finance, and payroll departments. There are a lot of moving parts in a strategic compensation program and the teachers are the ones at the end of the communication line, so it is critical that coordination and alignment takes place from the very beginning

• Abiding by the spending requirements in TEC 48.112 which includes spending at least 90% of TIA funds awarded to the district on teacher compensation on the campuses where the designated teacher works
• Developing a plan for how to allocate the funds flowing to campuses for teacher compensation, such as what percent will go to designated teachers and what percent will go toward other teacher compensation on the campus, if any
• Providing rationale for their spending decisions which support districts goals for student achievement, teacher recruitment, and teacher retention

• The use of TIA funds for teacher compensation is a critical decision in the TIA development process for a district and is a decision point that will have many inputs from stakeholder groups and district leaders, andmust be aligned to big-picture district strategies, priorities, and goals. When developing a TIA compensation plan for teachers, the following must be considered:
  • (i) Ensure 90% of the funds due to the designated teacher(s) on a campus are spent on compensation for teachers on that campus (it is important to remember that funds “earned” by a designated teacher are not automatically allocated to that teacher; the district has discretion)
  • (ii) The district will be required to have a board approved compensation policy for the disbursement of funds
  • (iii) Ensure the compensation plan aligns to stated district goals on student achievement/growth, teacher recruitment, and teacher retention (these goals are of course going to be different across districts)
    • These would include board aligned goals, district strategic priorities, and any task force recommendations (ie; district advisory council)

• It will be critical to annually evaluate how the TIA implementation and compensation plan align to district goals on student achievement, teacher recruitment and retention
• Think strategically on how these funds can uniquely impact teacher recruitment and retention within the district:–If the district is significantly behind other regional districts in total compensation, it may be necessary to allocate all the money to the designated teacher in order to retain an effective educator, or recruit new talent into the district
  • If the district has a perpetually underperforming campus and is interested in pursuing a strategic compensation / campus restart initiative, the TIA is a perfect opportunity to support stipends for teachers in all positions on a campus:
    • For example: If a district were able to recruit 10 designated teachers to a high-poverty campus (tier 4 or 5 on the compensatory education tiers) and the collective funding from the Teacher Incentive Allotment due to those ten teacher designations was $150,000, a district could award 50% of the funds to the designated teachers ($75,000) and then utilize the other $75,000 for stipends to other teacher positions on the campus who are effective teachers based on a district definition, but have not reached the state designation level. This approach is not only great for students in terms of equity in educator effectiveness, but is a great retention strategy for a district’s effective educators

• Utilize the required stakeholder engagement process to listen to teachers and other stakeholders when developing a plan – make sure there is buy-in from the beginning and if a decision is made that is counter to feedback, ensure there is appropriate “sense-making” on why a certain decision was made and how it aligns to the broader district goals, vision and priorities
• Districts that are using a phased-in approach, beginning TIA with a smaller subset of teachers, frequently leverage a shared model (often 75% to the TIA designated teacher, 15% available to share) to increase support across all teaching groups. As additional teaching assignments are added for TIA eligibility, a greater portion of the TIA designated dollars are awarded to the teacher
• A district’s compensation plan is likely going to be influenced by regional factors and those must be taken into consideration (for example, if all surrounding districts in a region are allocating 75% of the funds to the designated teacher, and your district’s plan is to allocate 50% to the teacher, there is a real likelihood the designated teachers will look to work elsewhere where the compensation for their work is greater)

• Remember this policy can be adjusted year to year, so it is important to implement continuous feedback loops for the purposes of iteration and improvement
• The TIA funds will follow a teacher if they change campuses or leave the district. If plans are used for compensation for teachers on the campus who do not hold the TIA designation, the campus should have a consistent approach for how compensation will be adjusted if the TIA designated teacher is no longer at the campus
• Effective teachers are not going to make decisions solely based on money, so make sure to take into account all of the factors that go into a teacher’s decision making process on where to work (ie. working conditions, principal leadership, opportunity for professional development, and leadership opportunities / career pathways)

• Tracking student growth measures
• Tracking inter-rater reliability within and across campuses
• Tracking teacher survey data
• Tracking the flow of both the district funds retained (if any) and campus funds

• Technology is a key district function in capturing and monitoring data for the Teacher Incentive Allotment across various departments and it is imperative that these technological systems can interact (or at the least be compatible) with one another to ensure a smooth implementation. There is the likelihood a district will have to conduct a brief “technology audit” to understand what systems are in place, where they are compatible with one another, and if system needs to be revised or upgraded to meet a specific need. Specifically, technology will need to be able to support these four key functions:
  • Tracking student growth measures - based on the assessments selected for each category of teacher, the evaluation and assessment department will need to have a system in place to accurately track student growth
  • Tracking inter-rater reliability within and across campuses – this is the system that is most likely going to require some updates, as teacher observations from administrators are going to need to be analyzed both within a campus and across campuses to identify patterns and trends of observation scores on the rubric chosen (ie; T-TESS)
  • Tracking teacher survey data – an annual teacher survey is required by TEA and results will need to be collected and analyzed by campus type and profile (ie; demographics, student performance, etc)
  • Tracking the flow of both the district funds retained (if any) and campus funds – this system will need to be compatible with the HR system for designating teachers per the approved district Tia system

• A district should try and limit the number of different technology systems needing to be used to implement the Teacher Incentive Allotment (or any district initiative for that matter). Streamlining systems, albeit costly in some circumstances, will reduce the instances of human error, which over time will lead to confidence in the system by teachers
• Eliminate the processes and protocols that are completed manually and convert them to a digital platform (ie; teacher observations being completed on iPads and directly inputted into a system that can be analyzed within a campus and across campuses). By doing this, a district will cut down on the amount of “double-work” in manually capturing data and inputting that data into the appropriate system
• Make sure there is adequate training for the user of any system being utilized by the district to support the Teacher Incentive Allotment, and to the extent possible, try to make the user-experience as straightforward as possible

• If a new technological platform is rolled out to support the TIA, ensure there are multiple rounds of focus groups where the impacted employees get to utilize the system and ask questions/learn about the platform. Following the focus groups, create a training plan and user-manual to support the user in becoming proficient with the system
• Don’t let technology undercut a great implementation plan, as a user’s dissatisfaction with the platform could cloud their overall perception of the program (For example – an administrator is giving high-quality, calibrated feedback to teachers, but cannot stand working with the platform to input the observation data. As a result, this administrator has a negative perception of the Teacher Incentive Allotment because of the struggles with the platform, even when the coaching and feedback has been of quality and will result in a more effective educator)

• District legal offices can articulate a clear understanding of TIA
• District legal offices demonstrate knowledge of both the district’s local designation plan and the statutes pertaining to TIA

• Legal Services, just as with other district departments, needs to be able to clearly articulate the district Teacher Incentive Allotment plan, specifically the components that intersect with statute, policy and law. As this is a new process for many districts, existing district policies will not exist and will need to be created and adhere to the appropriate guidelines outlined in statute
• There is also the likelihood that once TIA designations are received (or not received), grievances will be filed for a myriad of reasons. It is important to remember that just because a process is new and the employee may not agree with a decision our outcome, it does not mean that the initiative or process was in violation of policy or law. This is a further reason it is imperative that legal services has a deep understanding of the TIA plan and how it is being implemented in the district

• Legal services should be proactive in gaining an understanding of the Teacher Incentive Allotment plan and implementation, as well as anticipating scenarios that may come to them in the form of grievances so they are prepared to respond
• Just because an initiative is new does not mean it is in violation of existing policy and/or law, and it is important for legal services to approach the Teacher Incentive Allotment from this frame. There are clear guidelines in statute and in the Commissioner Rule’s for the implementation of this initiative across the state, and that is the guidance that should be adhered to

• There will likely be a surge in grievances at the first time teacher designations are awarded, not because policies and law were not followed, but rather because certain employees will not agree with the outcome. These grievances are likely to come in these ways:
  • Disagreement on an observational summative score, given the system is now calibrated and the standards are higher than in previous years
  • Given that the district is the entity that submits teacher names to the state for designation based on the outcomes of the approved district system, there are going to be teachers who were not submitted that feel as if that were an error
• Documentation and record keeping of observations, 1:1 conversations, and growth plans/coaching conversations at the campus level is incredibly important (this is also another reason why having digital records are preferable)

• Annual monitoring of district teacher observation and student growth data, including the years following a district’s system approval
• Annual administration of teacher surveys to gauge the fairness and reliability of the local designation system and making all survey results public

• Any effective initiative implemented in a district should be one that is iterative and always improving/adapting as the landscape of the district and surrounding region/state changes. The same is true for the Teacher Incentive Allotment, as the most effective strategic compensation programs in the state and the country are ones that continuously improve year over year, based on a program evaluation showing the results of the initiative compared to the goals that were set for the initiative as well as from feedback from stakeholders, namely teachers in this case
• It is important to give attention to each of those components. It is without question important to ensure the TIA system is resulting in the identification, retention, recruitment and compensation of effective educators who are ultimately increasing student achievement. However, even if this is the case, but a majority of teachers do not feel the system is accurate, fair or reliable, this will result in an untenable situation over time and will undercut the system (some disagreement is absolutely to be expected given the nature of accurately defining teacher effectiveness, and this is ok)

• Administer a district climate survey 2x per year (Fall and Spring) to allow for real-time data that can be acted upon during the school year
• Create focus groups across many positions (principals, teachers, central administrators) to consistently solicit feedback and give guidance on system improvements. This will give confidence to others in the district that leaders are following the implementation progress and are wanting to hear from those most effected by the initiative
• Annual adjustments to a strategic compensation system is not out of the ordinary and also not a signal that the initiative is unsuccessful – these are complex systems that impact human beings, so changes are often appropriate and necessary
• Administer an annual “risk assessment” to gauge the perception and understanding of district employees. This is especially important in larger districts, as in any given year there are a number of new employees who have not experienced any stakeholder engagement or interaction with the Teacher Incentive Allotment

• Don’t be adverse to system changes – this is the sign of an effectively designed system and strong district leadership to be open to and welcoming system improvements
• When a district holds focus groups and receives feedback, either through an annual survey or other outlets, it is imperative the district act to remedy any glaring issues of concerns. If feedback is not acted on or addressed (if a change is not made even when people are asking for it, which in certain circumstances would be appropriate), the feedback and continuous improvement process will be seen as a compliance only exercise that stakeholders will not take seriously in the future. It will also undercut the district’s ability to move forward other initiatives
• There are going to be circumstances where regional or state factors will dictate a change to a district system, even if feedback and survey data are all positive. This is also not problematic, as districts do not operate in a vacuum and have to be nimble and respond to a number ofexternal factors

• District has a plan to support designated teachers who are new to a campus including:
• Providing context of the campus with respect to rural status and level of socio-economic need
• Providing best practices for achieving student growth on the new campus
• Providing training on campus-based norms, traditions, and school culture

• Research show that districts with highly effective campus ‘onboarding programs’ alongside district orientation have a higher campus retention rate. Effective onboarding plans have clear goals and clear leadership and are grounded in the school culture. The goals for the new teachers are differentiated and provide quality, ongoing training on effective strategies as well as encourage reflective practice.

• On site orientation plans should include orientation to the school’s structure, physical lay out as well as instructional and administrative expectations.
• Ensure school expectations are understood early with high quality, meaningful, targeted contact. For example, allow teachers to read material aligned to your school philosophy (i.e., Teach Like a Champion).
• Allow teachers an opportunity to internalize culture and performance expectations prior to campus orientation. For example, review performance rubric and select two PD goals for the first 3 months of school.
• Campus orientation opportunities that include model classroom sessions for ideal classroom set up and the option to engage with experienced teachers in their grade level or content area are highly recommended.

• Onboarding begins from the moment you extend the job offer to the candidate, throughout the orientation period and throughout the first year of service on campus. During the uncertainty of the upcoming school (Fall 2020 and beyond), leaders should plan to have strong onboarding plans for both in person and virtual orientations.