Step One

Read the following from your text: Compensation (pp. 248-250)

Read the following from the Louisiana Department of Education’s website: Recognizing and Rewarding Great Results in the Classroom: Act 1 Compensation Training, October 2012 (slides 5-9)

Locate the teacher salary schedule that your district uses

Step Two

Respond to the following…

• From your text, describe the difference(s) between a performance-based model and a membership-based type of compensation program.  Additionally, list at least two concrete things that would be different in regard to a salary schedule for teachers when comparing these two types of compensation plans.
• On the state department’s website, you will see that since 2012, compensation for teachers should be based on demand, effectiveness, and experience.  Describe and define each of these categories.
• Locate the salary schedule for teachers in your district.  Provide examples of how teachers in your district are compensated based on each category of demand, effectiveness, and experience.
• Much of the focus for raising salaries for teachers is on recruiting, recognizing, and retaining effective teachers.  As a result, many would say that the following should receive higher salaries than other teachers:
  • Those rated highly effective for professional practice and for having the best student value-added data.
  • Those who teach in high demand, low supply subjects like science, math, and special education.
  • Those who meet the above criteria and who serve in schools where the supply of teachers is often low (rural areas, urban areas, schools with low performance scores).
• Where do you stand in regard to the aforementioned categories (effectiveness, subject area, and geography) when it comes to paying those teachers more than others?  Should they receive significantly more pay?  Should all teachers be compensated the same?  Justify your responses.
• Does your response change when it comes to thinking about this from a principal’s or human resource director’s perspective, as opposed to your current position and perspective?  Have you considered being the leader of a school or district in which effective teachers are very difficult to recruit, recognize, and retain?  Explain your answer.