You get what you pay for, writes Hannah Putnam on the NCTQ blog. Bonuses persuaded highly effective teachers to take jobs at low-performing schools in Dallas. Achievement rose compared to similar schools that were not part of the experiment. When the ACE bonuses ended, teachers left those schools, reports a new NBER working paper.
ACE (Accelerating Campus Excellence) provided "a signing bonus for teachers ($2,000), annual stipends (ranging from $6,000 to 10,000 for teachers, and more for principals, plus hefty bonuses for counselors and other staff)," writes Putnam. Teachers had to reapply for their jobs: 80 percent were replaced, usually by far more effective teachers, as judged by the district's evaluation system.
ACE also included "small increases in instructional time, requirements for data-driven instruction, funds for school uniforms, and additional professional development."
After a few years at an ACE elementary school, sixth graders earned higher scores, especially in math, researchers found.
When bonuses ended in 2019 for the first ACE cohort, many teachers left, especially the highly rated teachers, notes Putnam. "Students' test scores went back down."
Teachers' unions oppose higher pay for teachers in more challenging jobs, reports Joe Hong on CalMatters.
The report from CalMatters is very good.
The author writes: “Teachers feel physically safer and more supported by their principals and administrators.” at the schools where students come from much more stable homes.
Paying teachers more to work at the schools where they dont feel physically safe and not as supported by principals and administrators (and unstated, the parents) May work in the short time, but those teachers will still end up leaving because they do t feel safe or supported.