Virginias Teacher Incentives for HardtoStaff Schools and the Virginia Middle School Teacher Corps St

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Virginias Teacher Incentives for Hard-to-Staff
Schools and the Virginia Middle School Teacher
Corps State Teacher Quality Network The
Council of Chief State School OfficersWashingto
n, DCJune 2, 2005
Thomas T. Suh Data Systems Specialist Virginia
Department of Education
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The Governors Education for a Lifetime Initiative

• Higher Quality Child Care
• Improved Teacher Recruitment and Retention
• Increased Economic Development through Higher
  Education
• Senior-Year Reform
• Improved Workforce Development
• A Renewed Commitment to Accountability

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Education for a Lifetime Teacher Retention and
Support

• Support effective school leadership
• Attract new teachers to the Commonwealth
• Develop and retain high quality beginning and
  experienced teachers
• Address instructional critical shortage areas
• Ensure a supportive environment for teaching and
  learning to occur

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Hard-to-Staff School Programs

• Teacher Incentives for Hard-to-Staff Schools
• Beginning Teacher Mentoring in Hard-to-Staff
  Schools

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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What is a Hard-to-Staff School?

• No exact definition exists
• According to ECS, hard-to-staff schools have
  great difficulty in finding and retaining
  qualified and effective teachers . . . .
  Typically, such schools have high turnover rates
  and a high percentage of relatively new teachers
  because more experienced teachers . . . tend to
  go elsewhere.

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Virginias Determination of aHard-to-Staff School

• The school has received accredited with warning
  status
• The average daily attendance is 2 percentage
  points below the statewide average
• The percent of special education students exceeds
  150 percent of the statewide average
• The percent of limited English proficient
  students exceeds 150 percent of the statewide
  average

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Virginias Determination of aHard-to-Staff
School (Contd)

• The percent of teachers with provisional licenses
  exceeds 150 percent of the statewide average
• The percent of special education teachers with
  conditional licenses exceeds 150 percent of the
  statewide average
• The percent of inexperienced teachers hired to
  total teachers exceeds 150 percent of the
  statewide average
• The school has one or more inexperienced teachers
  in a critical shortage area

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Teacher Incentives Program

• Two-year pilot (beginning Fall 2004)
• Caroline County and Franklin City
• One middle school and one high school in each
  school division
• Financial incentives for attracting and retaining
  highly qualified teachers
• Financial incentive for improving student
  achievement

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Teacher Incentive Program

• Faculty incentives
• One-time 15,000 hiring incentive an annual
  500 training and professional development
  stipend (eligible new hires)
• Annual 3,000 retention bonus an annual 500
  training and professional development stipend
  (eligible retained teachers)
• Annual 500 training stipend (all other teachers)

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Teacher Incentive Program

• School incentives
• First Year 150 per student for projects, e.g.,
  purchase of classroom materials, additional
  training for teachers, attendance incentives,
  etc.
• Second Year 200 per student for projects, if
  the school can demonstrate a 10 percent reduction
  in the SOL failure rate from the previous year
  (50 percent must be used as salary incentives for
  all faculty members)

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Teacher Eligibility Criteria

• Be fully licensed to teach in Virginia and
  teaching in an area of endorsement
• Be highly qualified per NCLB
• Have at least five years successful full-time
  experience as a teacher, librarian, or guidance
  counselor at an accredited public or non-public
  school
• Agree to participate in a training program during
  Year One
• Agree to participate in a support program during
  Year Two

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Teacher Eligibility Criteria (Continued)

• Demonstrate professionalism and success in
  working with students (per Leadership Indicators)
• Demonstrate effective communication and
  collaborative skills (per Leadership Indicators)
• Teachers locating to a new school must sign an
  agreement to remain at the school for at least
  three years beyond receipt of the initial
  incentive with a prorated repayment for failure
  to fulfill the terms of the agreement

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Leadership Indicators

• Instructional Leadership (Must satisfy all three)
• Documented evidence of average or better student
  performance (AYP, standardized tests,
  accreditation benchmarks, Presidential physical
  fitness award data, student performance in visual
  arts, etc.)
• Above average or better performance evaluations
  supported by outstanding classroom observation
  reports for the last three consecutive years
• Letters of outstanding recommendations from
  either a previous or current supervisor
  (depending on status)

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Leadership Indicators (Continued)

• Professional Leadership (Must satisfy 3 out of 5)
• Advanced degree in the teaching area or related
  field
• National certification in the teaching area
• Documentation of professional leadership, e.g.,
  dept chair, mentor, coach, team leader, etc.
• Documentation of service on school, division,
  state, or national committee related to the
  teaching profession in the last five years
• Evidence of use of instructional practices
  resulting from annual participation in
  professional development

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Leadership Indicators (Continued)

• Collaborative Leadership (Must satisfy 2 out of
  3)
• Demonstrated use of community resources/
  volunteers to enhance student learning
• Involvement of students in co-curricular projects
  that extend student learning in their subject
  area
• Evidence of the use of communication tools to
  provide information/feedback to parents, e.g.,
  newsletters, contact logs, conference logs, etc.

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Low-Performing School Programs

• Virginia Middle School Teacher Corps
• Virginia School Turnaround Specialist Program

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Virginia Middle School Teacher Corps

• Three-year pilot (beginning Fall 2005)
• Open to any school (offering instruction in
  grades 6, 7, or 8) that either received
  accredited with warning status in math OR did
  not meet Annual Yearly Progress for math
• The VDOE will maintain a Teacher Corps of up to
  70 eligible teachers
• Financial incentives for attracting and retaining
  highly qualified middle school math teachers
• Grant application deadline September 30, 2005

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Virginia Middle School Teacher Corps

• Hired Teacher Corps incentives
• Annual 10,000 salary differential (eligible new
  hires)
• Annual 5,000 salary differential (eligible
  retained teachers)

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Virginia Middle School Teacher Corps

• Hired Teacher Corps obligation
• Participate in training developed or contracted
  by the Virginia Department of Education that may
  include developing strategies for low-achieving
  math students, skills in mentoring other
  teachers, data assessment as it relates to AYP
  and school accreditation, etc.
• Must complete training by the end of the 1st year

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Criteria for Teacher Corps Eligibility

• Hold or be eligible for an active, renewable
  Virginia teaching license
• Hold or be eligible for an appropriate middle
  school math teaching endorsement
• Have completed a major or minor (18-21 semester
  hours) in math
• Meet the highly qualified criteria for a middle
  school math teacher per NCLB

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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Criteria for Teacher Corps Eligibility (Continued)

• Have completed at least three years of
  successful, full-time teaching in which math
  instruction was an important responsibility
• Demonstrate nine competencies, including
  understanding of the knowledge, skills, and
  processes of the VA math SOL, have a proven track
  record in improving student math achievement,
  understanding of the sequential nature of
  mathematics and mathematical structures inherent
  in the content strands, understanding of and the
  ability to use strategies to teach math to
  diverse learners, etc.

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education
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• Questions?

Division of Teacher Education and
Licensure Virginia Department of Education