Frequently Asked Questions about the Teacher Incentive Allotment
1) Why is Crandall ISD applying for the Teacher Incentive Allotment?
As a school district, we want to reward highly effective teachers who get results. We must ensure our students learn from great teachers who are doing amazing things and experiencing better-than-average growth. It is essential to enable highly effective teachers to earn more without leaving the classroom.
2) How Does TIA Work?
TIA is an incentive pay system that may award additional compensation to teachers based on predetermined effectiveness criteria. The district's most effective teachers can earn additional compensation, and the District will carve out a growth trajectory for developing teachers to achieve the same goal.
3) TIA Eligibility
At a minimum, the teacher must be coded 087 (Teacher) per Public Education Information.
Our goal in three years is for all teachers to have the opportunity to participate in the Teacher Incentive Allotment. Our initial application included a subset of teachers, and we are continuously adding teaching assignments each year.
CISD’s Teacher Incentive Allotment plan will be phased over three years. This innovative approach to differentiate compensation is designed to direct additional pay to teachers who qualify for the three tiers:
Master – Top 5% of the state
Exemplary – Top 20% of the state
Recognized – Top 1/3 of the state
4) TIA Teacher Effectiveness Criteria
Based on TIA requirements, the evaluation criteria must include teacher observation and student growth components. We created our process for assessing observations and student growth and will follow the state’s established guidelines for measuring exceptional effectiveness that we must adhere to.
Currently, we are using T-TESS to assess teacher observation and a variety of assessments for student growth.
5) Designations and Performance Incentives
Using the criteria to measure teacher effectiveness, e.g., observations and student growth, is using multiple measures. For every TIA-eligible teacher, we will track progress against these measures over the school year. Detailed TIA Texas Designation System Requirements are at TIA Texas.
- Teachers will receive regular development, feedback, and progress updates to keep them abreast of their TIA status.
- TIA-eligible teachers will receive multiple T-TESS observations for the school year and follow standardized student assessment protocols.
- When a full year of data, e.g., T-TESS observations and student growth scores, has been collected, that information will be used to calculate a composite score for each eligible teacher. Each teacher will be assigned a potential designation based on the composite score if they meet the criteria.
- Teachers may receive performance-based incentives based on their designation following the criteria in our spending plan.
6) TIA Timeline and Process
The work we are undertaking to secure TIA funding for the district is a multi-year process. TIA Texas established a rolling application process whereby districts can apply in one of many cohorts. Crandall ISD initially applied in Cohort F. The high-level timeline for the first application and Phase 1 designations is noted below and could be subject to change:
Cohort F:
- System Application Posted: Nov. 1, 2022
- System Application due to TEA: April 15, 2023
- System Application Result Final Notification: August 15, 2023
- Data-Capture Year for Applicable Teaching Assignments: 2023-2024
- Data Review due to Texas Tech University: Fall 2024
- Final Approval Notification: Spring 2025
- Final Designation and Allotment Notification: May-June 2025
- Initial Payout with Reimbursements for Approved Systems: August 2025
7) TIA Activities Happening This School Year (2023 - 2024)
Regarding TIA, this school year will be our first data capture year for Phase 1 teaching assignments. We will investigate expanding our system to Phase 2 teaching assignments and look at a plan to measure student growth with the intent to apply for an expansion of our Local Designation System. The expansion and modification application we submit in April 2025 will reflect the preferences and priorities of CISD teachers and leaders.
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