August 2009

This report presents findings from the third-year evaluation of the Governor’s Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG) program. The GEEG program was federally- and state-funded and provided three-year grants to schools to design and implement performance pay plans from the 2005-06 to 2007-08 school years. GEEG was implemented in 99 high poverty, high performing Texas public schools.

This report builds on the previous GEEG evaluation reports, presenting findings from a three-year evaluation of the program. Overall, the report discusses the implementation experiences of GEEG program participants, paying close attention to the manner in which participating schools designed their performance pay plans, and program outcomes. Findings suggest that school and personnel characteristics and GEEG plan design features influenced many of the outcomes of interest for evaluating the GEEG program. The attitudes and behaviors of school personnel, school environment, and teacher turnover were certainly affected by these factors. However, there is limited evidence that GEEG had an effect on student achievement gains, and no evidence that GEEG plan design features influenced student achievement gains. Examination of GEEG’s impact on student achievement is limited by the criteria for selecting schools into the program, other state-funded performance pay programs operating concurrently with GEEG, and the likely volatility of student performance measures available to measure student performance outcomes.

To view the GEEG Program: Executive Summary for the Year Three Evaluation Report, please click here .
To read a copy of the GEEG Program: Year One Evaluation Report, please click here .