Evaluation of the Teacher Incentive Fund: Implementation and Impacts of Pay-for-Performance After Two Years

After two years of implementation in 10 TIF districts, offering pay-for-performance bonuses increased student reading achievement by 1 percentile point-a small gain of about three additional weeks of learning. The impact on math achievement was similar in magnitude but not statistically significant....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2015
Main Authors: Chiang, Hanley, Wellington, Alison, Hallgren, Kristin, Speroni, Cecilia, Herrmann, Mariesa, Glazerman, Steven, Constantine, Jill
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Education
Government
Labor force/Employment
Mathematica Policy Research
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:After two years of implementation in 10 TIF districts, offering pay-for-performance bonuses increased student reading achievement by 1 percentile point-a small gain of about three additional weeks of learning. The impact on math achievement was similar in magnitude but not statistically significant. Some aspects of TIF implementation improved between the first and second years while other aspects continued to be challenging. The average bonus awarded to teachers was about 4% of average salary, less than the 5% recommended by TIF grant guidance for substantial bonuses. In the second year, substantially higher percentages of educators understood that they were eligible for a bonus, but many teachers in the evaluation districts (38%) were still not aware that they could earn a bonus. Teachers also continued to underestimate the size of the bonus they could earn.