Superintendent Jerry Wartgow today welcomed the findings and recommendations provided by the Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC) in a report on the district's ongoing pilot of teacher pay-for-performance.

"The CTAC study is invaluable for us as we move to strengthen the pilot and learn more about how this reform can positively impact student achievement," said Superintendent Wartgow. "We deeply appreciate the detail, the analysis, and the thoughtful suggestions for improvements."

The pilot, now in place at 16 schools, has reached the half-way point of a four-year test. The pilot is a joint effort of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and Denver Public Schools. Teachers are scheduled to vote on a pay for performance plan in December, 2003.

CTAC Executive Director Bill Slotnik, along with CTAC researchers and analysts from the Boston-based firm, presented their report, "Pathway To Results," to the Denver Board of Education Thursday, December 6.

Superintendent Wartgow said the district would address issues raised by CTAC, including suggestions that the district find appropriate assessments for certain subject areas (such as special education and music) and build its capacity to provide timely and appropriate data for decision-making.

"The district will do everything it can to support the Design Team in its effort to manage this pilot and to support schools and teachers who have volunteered to be part of this reform," said Wartgow. "The CTAC report suggests that teachers working together to analyze achievement data and writing objectives for improvement in the achievement levels - both steps that are inherent to the core concepts of the pilot - are having terrific benefits for student achievement. This project was designed to improve the focus on student performance and we are excited to begin to see these kinds of results."

CTAC's midpoint report makes several recommendations for the remaining two years of the pilot and beyond.
The pilot, CTAC urges, should provide teachers more support and options in writing objectives and it should address fairness concerns raised by special subject teachers, non-instructional specialists and special education teachers.

Also, CTAC urges that the district needs to broaden its capacity to provide specific teacher and classroom information to teachers and implement uniform expectations and standards for administering district tests.

Also, to promote fairness for teachers and reliability of results, CTAC recommends using multiple assessment measures at the classroom level. Another recommendation urges increased professional development to pilot sites and examining district programs to ensure that training geared to the skills required by pay for performance is available if the system is adopted.

A complete copy of the 148-page CTAC report, including a complete description of the pilot's origination and its development, will be available on line beginning Friday, December 7 at the district's web site, www.denver.k12.co.us under the "Updates" section.