NCPI researchers recently began the second year of its second performance pay experiment, this one in Round Rock, Texas. Similar to the POINT experiment in Nashville, the Round Rock experiment is a randomized field trial but studies the effects of team-based teacher incentives on student achievement as opposed to incentives based on individual teacher performance, as in POINT.

The key difference between these two programs, however, is that bonuses in the Round Rock experiment are based upon the performance of teams of middle school teachers and not individual teacher performance as in POINT. Bonus awards for the first year of the experiment were distributed in Fall 2009.

The Round Rock experiment is a two-year study that will conclude in May 2010. In addition to examining the effects of the team bonuses on student achievement, the program’s impact on teacher attitudes and behaviors, institutional dynamics, and unintended consequences will also be reported. NCPI researchers will issue a full report following the conclusion of the experiment.