Work by Matthew Stone

Sept. 25, 2010

Fifteen Maine schools will evaluate teachers on the basis of their students' academic performance and offer them cash to pursue an advanced credential.

It's part of a pilot project that won a $27.1 million award this week from a U.S. Department of Education program meant to help schools implement performance-based teacher pay.

The 15 schools -- including Somerville Elementary School in Regional School Unit 12 -- are spread throughout the state.

The Maine schools are splitting the $27.1 million with eight schools in Richmond, Va. The schools in both places signed onto a grant application submitted by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards of Arlington, Va.

The grant was one of 62 such federal grants awarded this week. Some of those awards will fund projects in which teachers will be rewarded directly for boosting student achievement.

The Maine pilot project doesn't do that, but it's a step in that direction, said Steve Bowen of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, an advocate for such pay systems.

"This is incrementalism," he said. "You pay teachers based on performance for student outcomes, or you pay teachers for getting credentials that are shown to improve student outcomes."

The pilot program is built largely on existing National Board for Professional Teaching Standards initiatives. The federal grant money will sponsor training sessions that will allow teachers in participating schools to gain their National Board certification.

Some 179 Maine teachers already had such certificates in 2009, according to the organization, but it's a credential teachers have largely pursued on their own.

Teachers gain the certificate after producing video portfolios of class lessons that are judged by an expert panel and taking tests to demonstrate knowledge in their subject areas. The certified teachers receive $3,000 bonuses.

Under the grant program, teachers will receive $300 incentives to take certification classes and the $3,000 bonuses once they receive their certification. Eventually, principals will be eligible for $5,000 bonuses for gaining a related administrator certification.

The pilot program, which lasts five years and takes effect next fall, also will offer bonuses of $1,000 to $2,000 to teachers working in subject areas for which school districts have difficulty recruiting instructors. New teachers working in those hard-to-staff areas will receive $7,500 signing bonuses during the pilot project, Anna Davis, the National Board's executive director for government relations, said.

"They can use this as a recruitment bonus to bring in National Board Certified teachers," said Davis.

Through the pilot program, participating schools will also implement teacher and principal evaluation systems that take students' academic performance into account, Davis said -- something that only became legal in Maine this year.

School districts ultimately are going to need uniform evaluation systems, said Gary Rosenthal, assistant superintendent and curriculum coordinator in RSU 12, which had two schools sign onto the grant application.

"If we could be in a position where we were getting some funding for professional development and work in this area, it would certainly help us," he said. "The thought is, we're going to be doing it at some point anyway."

In RSU 12 -- which serves Alna, Chelsea, Palermo, Somerville, Westport Island, Whitefield, Windsor and Wiscasset -- Somerville Elementary and Wiscasset Primary schools are project participants.

To sign on, schools had to have 50 percent or more of their students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Rosenthal said the next step for RSU 12 would be to request teacher input and gauge their interest in participating.

For "people who have thought about wanting to do some work on the certification at no expense," Rosenthal said, "this might be a great opportunity for them."

Other project participants include six schools in Ellsworth-based RSU 24, five schools in Westbrook, SeDoMoCha School in Dover-Foxcroft and Van Buren District Elementary School.

The schools serve almost 4,000 students, Davis said.

A statewide board with representatives from Maine's teachers' union and organizations representing superintendents, school boards, principals and special-education directors will oversee the pilot project, said Wanda Monthey, team leader for curriculum and assessment at the Maine Department of Education.

The National Board cites a report by the National Research Council that shows teachers with the advanced credential are more effective than their counterparts at improving students' academic performance, particularly in high-need schools.

"We think one of the best ways to turn around low-performing schools is to get cohorts of National Board Certified teachers there," Davis said.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435
mstone@centralmaine.com

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