NCPI research associates Sara Heyburn and Jessica Lewis, along with Gary Ritter of the University of Arkansas, describe the design features of incentive pay plans developed by the first round of Teacher Incentive Fund grantees, specifically identifying how grantees determine bonus award eligibility for educators and how those awards are distributed. Center affiliates found that the design of incentive pay plans at TIF sites adhere to the TIF program guidelines outlined by the U.S. Department of Education and focus on rewarding educators’ performance in addition to recruiting and retaining teachers in hard-to-staff positions. Most incentive pay plans are designed in ways that limit excessive competition between educators, but they differ considerably in the actual dollar amount of bonus awards offered to teachers and principals. The findings in this paper are particularly relevant given the newly-released proposals to modify TIF 2010 grants and the significant expansion of federal dollars allocated to the program.

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