Press Release

Governor Owens Lauds Pay For Performance Pilot

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens Thursday (March 22) applauded the Denver Public Schools and Denver Classroom Teachers Association for the "courage" being shown to experiment with directly linking teacher compensation to improved student achievement.

At the end of an hour-long briefing on the pilot at Horace Mann Middle School, Owens said Denver Public Schools is asking the right question: is there a way to use teacher pay to effect positive change in achievement?

"I really applaud the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and I applaud the Denver Public Schools Board of Education, administration, and faculty for undertaking this challenge," he said. "It does take courage to go where nobody has gone before."

During the briefing, Dr. Don Gratz of the Community Training and Assistance Center put the pilot in a national context. He stated that the DPS pilot is special because its unique feature is the focus on the achievement of individual students.

"What truly matters, bottom line, is not what teachers know or can do but what difference they make," Gratz said.

He said the project is "highly noteworthy" and being closely watched around the country.

Brad Jupp, a member of the four-person Design Team overseeing the pilot, outlined continuing challenges for the project. Among the challenges he cited were ready access to appropriate academic achievement data, general "educator skepticism" about the concept, and the need to build trust between principals and teachers so the idea is administered in a fair manner.

Governor Owens said he has found that improvements in public education will not be quick ones.

"When it comes to education," he said, "there are certainly no easy solutions, no easy answers. If there were, we would have implemented them many years ago."

Representatives of the Sturm Family Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, and Donnell-Kay Foundation were in attendance at the briefing. They have provided support for the project, including the cost for the CTAC technical support and ongoing analysis.

Teachers in pay for performance pilot schools are working with their principals on an annual basis to develop two performance objectives for the school year. Pay increases are then provided in a lump sum upon the completion of the objectives.

Three approaches are being tested, including:

1. Objectives based on Iowa Tests of Basic Skills or other district approved standardized tests.
   
2. Objectives based on criterion referenced (teacher developed) tests.
   
3. Objectives based on increased teacher knowledge and skills.

In March of 2000 the Board of Education approved the idea of extending the pilot through the 2002-2003 school year. Final approval of the plan being developed by the Design Team - two administrators and two teachers - is scheduled before December, 2003.