NCPI recently concluded the implementation of the Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT), and researchers are now analyzing data collected during the three-year experiment. Set in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), POINT is a randomized, controlled trial evaluating the effects of a pay-for-performance intervention on student achievement. It is the first randomized experiment in the nation to test the link between teacher bonuses and student achievement.

The POINT experiment was conducted in MNPS middle schools, with approximately 70 percent of eligible teachers volunteering to participate. The nearly 300 teacher volunteers were randomly assigned into treatment and control groups, with treatment teachers eligible to receive bonuses up to $15,000 each year based on the progress of their students on the state standardized assessment, the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). Teachers were evaluated based on an historical performance benchmark for MNPS teachers, not based on competition with one another. As such, all teachers in the treatment group had the chance to earn bonuses.

NCPI researchers are now analyzing data collected during the three-year implementation. In particular, they are examining the impact on student achievement, teacher attitudes and behaviors, and institutional dynamics. They are also interested in cost-effectiveness and whether there are potential unintended consequences.

The master report will focus primarily on student achievement results along with teacher attitudes and behaviors in response to the experiment. Subsequent publications will focus on additional program outcomes.

NCPI plans to publish policy briefs about the POINT project, including background information, prior to the release of the main report. Please check our website, www.performanceincentives.org, for these and other POINT updates.