About The Pilot

“When it comes to building systems of evaluation and support, teachers must be at the table shaping the terms. That’s exactly what they did in Jefferson County, Colorado, where management and labor came together to develop a performance pay model based on a robust system of evaluation. They established new leadership roles for teachers that allow them to earn more and both stay in the classroom and have a greater voice in how their schools are run. That’s common sense and revolutionary at the same time.” –U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

A unique collaboration
Jeffco’s innovative strategic compensation pilot in 20 schools is a unique collaboration among the district and its teacher and administrator associations.

The goals are to improve student learning, increase teachers’ professional skills and reward educators for results. The pilot rewards what Jeffco values—exemplary performance and teamwork. All pilot schools get the same new supports for educators. The only difference is compensation.

The pilot is part of national research. Now in the second of four years of research in schools (2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15), the pilot is funded by a $39 million federal grant—the largest the district has ever received.

Our greatest hope: Jeffco’s pilot will improve student learning by identifying support to help all teachers grow—in Jeffco and in schools across Colorado and the nation.

Career opportunities for teacher leaders
The pilot offers unique career opportunities for teacher leaders. Outstanding teachers work with their colleagues—as mentor teachers, master teachers and peer evaluators—to help them become more effective. They take on new responsibilities, work a longer school year and earn an additional stipend.

Peer evaluators—receive intense and ongoing training in observation and evaluation; work full time with administrators in multiple schools to observe and evaluate teachers throughout the year; and inform professional development.
Master teachers—work full time with their school’s teachers and leadership team to set goals for student achievement and teacher professional learning; help align individual, team and schoolwide professional development with goals; use observation feedback to help teachers improve their effectiveness; and participate on the school’s instructional leadership team.
Mentor teachers—teach in their classrooms 80 percent of the time; work 20 percent of the time directly with other teachers to model lessons, co-teach, co-plan, observe or give feedback; and participate on the school’s instructional leadership team.

Early celebrations
Significant culture shifts are under way in pilot schools—from teachers working alone to working together and getting feedback from colleagues.

With data from just one year of implementation in pilot schools, overall results aren’t in yet. That’s because the new supports must be proven effective for student achievement and teacher effectiveness over time. Here are early celebrations.

Teachers are:

Receiving more frequent, useful and specific feedback to improve instruction
Reflecting on professional strengths and areas to improve
Getting job-embedded professional development based on their individual needs

Principals are:

Building a culture of trust and collaboration
Changing their schedules and priorities to observe teachers in classrooms more frequently
Getting job-embedded professional development based on their individual needs
Tailoring schoolwide and individual professional development based on feedback from teacher observations and evaluations

Independent researchers are analyzing student achievement data and conducting in-depth research with pilot school educators. When the pilot ends after 2014-15, the goal is to know which new supports made the most difference for student achievement and teacher effectiveness.

Two groups of pilot schools
Since this is a research project, the 20 pilot schools are divided into two groups—design and control. They all receive the same supports for teachers. The only difference is compensation.

In the 10 design schools, all licensed staff have the potential to earn additional stipends of up to $15,000 each year for meeting school and team student learning growth goals, and earning an exceptional evaluation that’s significantly above average performance.

In the 10 control schools, all licensed staff earn a 1 percent annual participation stipend.

Design schools are Deane, Foster, Kullerstrand, Pennington, Secrest, Stein, Thomson and Welchester elementary schools, and North Arvada and O’Connell middle schools.
Control schools are Fitzmorris, Foothills, Green Mountain, Lawrence, Lumberg, Slater, Stevens and Wilmore-Davis elementary schools, Everitt Middle School, and Wheat Ridge 5-8.