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Why must states focus on excellent teachers?Withoutthem,chil-drenwhostartbehinddonotcatchup:Evenwithgoodteacherswhoproduceayearofprogressannually,thesestudentsstaybe-hindforever.Incontrast,teachersinthetop25percentmakewelloverayear’sworthoflearningprogresswiththeirstudentseachyear,onaverage.Studentswhohavetheseteachersconsistentlycannotonlycatchup,butleapahead—theAmericanDreaminac-tion.Ifstatescouldconsistently providetheirstudentswithexcel-lentteachers,theycouldclosemostoftheirstubbornachievementgapswithinfiveyears.1

Buttoday,onlyaboutaquarterofU.S.classroomshaveateacherthatstrong.AndasnotedintherecentTNTPreportThe Irreplace-ables,schoolslosehighlyeffectiveteachersatanalarmingrate.2

We shouldn’t be surprised: Schools give great teachers littlereason to stay. Unlike other professions, the best teachers havefewopportunitiestoexpandtheirimpact,helpingmorestudentsand peers. They can’t advance their careers—unless they leavetheclassroomandbecomeadministrators.Emergingmasterand

mentorrolestypicallyconfernorealauthoritytoleadpeers,norcreditandclearresponsibilityforhelpingmorestudents.Andgreatteachersdonotnecessarilyearnmore.Bonusesthatsomedistrictsandstateshavebeguntointroducearetypicallysmallanddisap-pearoncethespecialdollarsthatfundthemarespent—providinglittleincentivetoenterorstayintheseroles.

Butstatepolicymakerscanchangeallofthat.Withbetterinfor-mationaboutwhichteachersaremosteffective,statepolicymak-ershaveanunprecedentedopportunitytoreward,retain,andat-tractmoreofthoseteachers.Byspurringschoolstoredesignrolesand use technology in age-appropriate ways, policymakers canenablegreat teachers to reachmorestudentsanddeveloptheirpeers—andcanpaythemfarmorefromexistingfunding.3Insomenewmodels,schoolscanpayallteachersmore,whilestillpayingthebestevenmore,sustainably.

Withthesechanges,astate’sschoolscanbecomeplaceswhereall students have access to excellent teachers, consistently. Anditsschoolscanbecomeplaceswherethehighest-potentialteach-erswanttowork,wheregoodteachersmovemorequicklytowardexcellence,andwheregreatteachersstay.

REDESIGNING SCHOOLSTO REACH EVERY STUDENT WITH EXCELLENT TEACHERS

using teacher data to attract, reward, & retain top teachers

T hankstoincreasinglymeaningfulteacherevaluations,weknowfarmorethaneverabouttheeffectivenessofteachersinpublicschoolclassrooms.Whatshouldstates,districts,andschoolsdowiththatknowledge?

Inpolicydebates,muchoftheattentionhasfocusedonteachersatthe“ineffective”endofthespectrum.Withbetterteacherevaluation,thethinkinggoes,districtscanstopawardingtenuretoineffectiveteachers.Theycandismissteacherswho,inspiteofprofes-sionaldevelopmentandsupport,donotimprovesufficiently.

Policiesliketheseareimportant,butstatesthatstoptherewillmissamajorchancetotransformtheirschoolsintoplacesthatarefarbetterforstudents—andforteachers.Stateanddistrictpolicymakersmustfocusevenmoreonopportunitiesforthetop25percentofteachers,withstrongpoliciesthat attract, reward, retain, and extend the reach of highly effective teachers.

ONLY 25% OF CLASSES HAVE EXCELLENT TEACHERS.

EXCELLENT TEACHER

A Teacher’s Impact = Student Outcomes x

Number of Students Reached

© 2012 pu bl ic i m pact OpportunityCulture.org 2

a policymakers’ planAspolicymakersconsiderhowtousetheirnewteacherdata,theyshouldalsoconsideranecessaryfirststepthatcomesmuchear-lier in the process of attracting top teachers. Among other na-tions making education surges, the most common practice hasbeen to limit who can teach to their top high school or collegestudentswhoalsoexhibitotherqualitiesneededforgreatteach-ing.Althoughthisalonewouldnotbeadequateinoureconomy,U.S.statescouldandshouldfollowtheirlead.Withonlytopstu-dentsenteringteaching,policymakerswouldhaveastrongerbasefrom which they can reach all students with excellent teaching.Then,policymakers ready to create the policy changes to lever-age, reward, retain, and attract excellent teachers can start with a seven-point plan:4

1. Identify excellent teachers — now. Whilestateswadethroughtheprocessofcreatingteacherevaluationsystemsairtightenoughtodismisslow-performingteachers,theycangoaheadandrequiredistrictstoidentifytheirtop-25percentteachers.Usingmultiplemeasuresinallgradesofhigh-prioritysubjects,withstudentlearninggrowthasthemainelement,statescanidentifytheirbestandmoveaheadonredesigningjobstoenablethemtoreachmorestudentsandleadpeers.

2. Track and report student access to great teachers. Astateneedstoknowmorethanjusthowmanyexcellentteachersitsschoolshave;thecriticalnumberishowmanystudentsbenefitfromthoseteachers.Statesshouldrequiredistrictstoreportthenumberandpercentageofstudentswhoseteachers—theonesaccountableforeachstudent’sprogress—arehighlyeffective,byschoolandstudentsubgroup.

3. Track and report retention rates of excellent teachers.AsTNTPnoted,muchofteacherretentioniswithinthecontrolofschoolsanddistricts.5Statesshouldrequirereportingoftop-teacherretentioneachyear—andholdprincipalsanddistrictleadersaccountablewhenthebestteachersleaveeducation.

4. Pay top teachers more, within available budgets, for reach-ing more students.Amendstatewidesalaryscales,leaving

districtsandschoolsfreetopayexcellentteachersmoreforreachingmorestudentswithinavailablebudgets.Imple-mentstate-levelincentivesforschoolsanddistrictsthatreachmorestudentswithexcellentteaching,andsharethefinancialbenefitsofefficiencieswiththoseteachersandtheireffectivepeers. Andnobudgetfudging—statescandothissustainably.AsPublicImpact’sfinancialanalyseshaveshown,schoolscouldredesigntheirteachingrolesandincreasetopteachers’paytoday,uptoapproximately130percent,without increasing class sizes and within existing budgets.6Whenbudgetsrise,newfundsshouldflowtoexcellentteachers,andtheirsup-portingteammates,whohelpmorestudentssuccessfully.

5. Make tenure meaningful via “elite tenure,”offeredonlytoconsistentlyexcellentteacherswhothencanbeempoweredtochoosetheirpeers.Withoutflexibilitytochangerolesun-hinderedbycurrenttenurepolicies,schoolssimplywillnotbeabletofreethefundstoincreasepayforanyteachers.

6. Clear the other barriers that keep excellent teachers from reaching more students. Withredesignedjobsandorgani-zations,statescanincreasetheirtopteachers’reach.Statepoliciesmust:

•Providefundingforschoolsasfungiblelumpsums,includ-ingfundingforteacherpay,freeingschoolstopayfortheirbestcombinationsofteachingrolesandtechnology.

•Eliminateclass-sizelimitsforwilling,excellentteachers,orrequireaverageclass-sizelimitsacrossdistrictsorschools,ratherthanperclassroom.

•Eliminateorreduce“seattime”requirementsforstudentstobewithlicensedstaff,focusingonstudentoutcomesinstead.Thiswillallow,forexample,unlicensedstafftomonitordigitallabs,freeingfundstopaymore—withinbudget—totheexcellentteachersaccountableforlearning.

In an Opportunity Culture, all teachers have career opportunities dependent upon their excellence, lead ership, and student impact. Advancement allows more pay and greater reach.

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•Grantabsoluteprotectionduringlayoffstoexcellentteachers,regardlessofseniority.Forexample,guaranteeprotectiontoteacherswhoproducedtop-25percentstu-dentprogressfortwoofthepastthreeyearsorthemostrecentyear.

•Reviselicensuretomaketopout-of-stateteachersauto-maticallyeligibletoteach.

•Provideuniversalwirelessbroadbandforallstudents,tosaveteacherstimeandequalizeonlineopportunities.

7. Create the will to give every student excellent teachers. Evenwhenstatesremovebarriers,manydistrictsacttooslowly.Statepoliciesmustcatalyzechange.Forexample,astatecoulddeclareanew civil rightforallstudentstoexcel-lentteachers.Foranystudentwhodidnotmakegradelevelinthepreviousschoolyear;whodidnotmakeatleastayear’sworthofgrowthinanydesignatedsubjectintheprevi-ousschoolyear;orwhohasnotbeenassignedanexcellentteacherinadesignatedsubjectduringthepriortwoschoolyears,requireschoolstoputanexcellentteacherinchargeofinstruction.Requirethatteachertobefullyaccountableforthestudent’slearningoutcomes,inperson,online,orincom-bination.Ifschoolsanddistrictsdonotprovidesuchachildwithanexcellentteacher,empowerthestudenttotakelegalactiontoenforcetheright.Statesalsocanallowonlytophighschoolgraduatestoteach,whileattractingmoreofthesestudentswithpaidcareeropportunitieswithinteaching.

Usingnewteacherdata,statesanddistrictscanattract,reward,andretainexcellentteachersandleveragetheirtalentstoreachmorestudents—givingallofournation’sstudents,notjustaluckyfew,theeducationtheydeserve.

Notes

1.Numerousstudiesconfirmthesefindings.Foroneexample,seeGordon,R.J.,Kane,T.J.,andStaiger,D.O.(2006).Identifying effective teachers using performance on the job.Washington.DC:BrookingsInstitution.

2.TNTP.(2012).The irreplaceables: Understanding the real retention crisis in America’s urban schools (executive summary).Brooklyn,NY:Author.Retrievedfromhttp://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP_Irreplaceables_2012.pdf

3.Formanyexamplesofschoolmodelsthatextendexcellentteachers’reachformorepay,withinbudget,seewww.opportunityculture.org.

4.Formoreonthesepolicies,seePublicImpact.(2012).Seizing opportunity at the top: Reaching every student with excellent teachers: Policymakers’ checklist.ChapelHill,NC:Author.Retrievedfromhttp://opportunityculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/seizing_opportunity_policymakers_checklist-public_impact1.pdf

5.TNTP.(2012).The irreplaceables: Understanding the real retention crisis in America’s urban schools.Brooklyn,NY:Author.Retrievedfromhttp://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP_Irreplaceables_2012.pdf

6.PublicImpact.(2012).Redesigning schools to reach every student with excellent teachers: Financial planning summary.ChapelHill,NC:Author.Retrievedfromhttp://opportunityculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Financial_Planning_Summary-Public_Impact.pdf

Acknowledgements

ThispublicationwasmadepossibleinpartbysupportfromCarnegieCorporationofNewYorkandisadaptedinpartfromPublicImpact’s2011report,Seizing Opportunity at the Top,madepossiblewiththesupportofTheJoyceFoundation.ThestatementsmadeandviewsexpressedaresolelytheresponsibilityofPublicImpact.

ThiswasfirstpublishedforthePIENetwork’sSixthAnnualPolicySummit.

PublicImpactencouragesthesharingandcopyingofthesematerials.Usersmustinclude“©2012PublicImpact”and“OpportunityCulture.org”onallpageswherematerialfromthisdocumentappears.OpportunityCultureisatrademarkofPublicImpact.

Pleasecitethispublicationas:PublicImpact.(2012).Using teacher data to attract, reward, and retain top teachers.ChapelHill,NC:Author.Retrievedfromhttp://opportunityculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Using_Teacher_Data-Public_Impact.pdf

©2012,updated2014PublicImpact,ChapelHill,NC

opportunity culture principlesTeams of teachers and school leaders must choose and tailor models to:

1. Reach more students with excellent teachers and their teams

2. Pay teachers more for extending their reach 3. Fund pay within regular budgets

4. Provide protected in-school time and clarity about how to use it for planning, collaboration, and development

5. Match authority and accountability to each person’s responsibilities

building anopportunity culture for america’s teachers