Success Factor 5: Plan for spending allotment of funds

Key Practice A

Key Practice A: Stakeholder engagement on how to spend funds

Success Criteria

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

Descriptive Indicators

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

Best Practices

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

Lessons Learned

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)

Resources

Best in Class – Results Delivery Playbook (Stakeholder Engagement Chapter)	Beginning on slide 194
Teach Plus stakeholder engagement materials	See TIA Toolkit slides 60-65
Grand Prairie ISD Teacher Survey	Survey administered to teachers in GPISD on their preferences for the distribution of TIA funds at campuses with designated teachers.

Key Practice B

Key Practice B: TIA use of funds: District support for TIA implementation

Success Criteria

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

Descriptive Indicators

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

Best Practices

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

Lessons Learned

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)

Resources

District examples on how this 10% is going to be used

Please contact Best in Class staff for access to these resources and examples

Key Practice C

Key Practice C: TIA use of funds: Teacher compensation

Success Criteria

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

Descriptive Indicators

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)

Best Practices

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)

Lessons Learned

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)

Resources

District examples on how TIA funds will be distributed

Please contact Best in Class staff for access to these resources and examples

Key Practice D

Key Practice D: Plan for designated teacher intra-district transfers

Success Criteria

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

Descriptive Indicators

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

Best Practices

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

Lessons Learned

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)

Resources

District examples on compensation plans

Please contact Best in Class staff for access to these resources and examples