Implementation

Implementation Process

1. An individualized annual performance evaluation is completed.

2. The annual performance evaluation clearly distinguishes and identifies performance as: 

   1. Exceeding expectations 

   2. Meeting expectations

   3. Below expectations

3. Meeting expectations means completing the tasks associated with the original job description and one's employment contract.

4. Below expectations: if the teacher has not previously been promoted, a corrective action plan or other measures to promote necessary competence are implemented following industry norms. After promotion to Level 3 or 4, a teacher who then performs below expectations for one year will be demoted to their previous rank.  

5. Exceeding expectations should be determined by a holistic group of indicators of quality. To exceed expectations, the candidate must meet contractual obligations AND demonstrate achievement in all eight holistic quality indicators (HQIs):

   1. Uphold a positive school and classroom climate 

   2. Exemplify high standards of integrity, trustworthiness, and professionalism

   3. Apply new knowledge from recent professional development into classroom practice

   4. Be an accessible and valuable resource to families by regularly communicating student achievement, strengths and needs to caregivers and by providing meaningful resources to families.

   5. Teach the state education standards and the prescribed or created curriculum with fidelity, including accurately implementing associated assessments

   6. Ensure that typically developing students make one academic year of developmental progress, as measured by comparing baseline individual student achievement at the beginning of the academic year with end-of-year individual student achievement.  

   7. Ensure that atypically developing students make expected growth, based on their ability, according to valid and reliable measures of developmental progress. For students who are not progressing as expected, and who are unlikely to make expected progress by the end of the year, the teacher documents:

      1. Effort and results related to providing individualized instruction

      2. Effort and results related to referring the student for additional assessment and services

      3. Effort and results related to collaborating with the parents/caregivers to support the child's development

   8. Support the professional growth of other teachers by contributing meaningfully to collaborative efforts such as shared lesson planning, shared classroom projects, opportunities to team teach, grade level or staff meetings, taking initiative to mentor and support early career or pre-service teachers and by providing professional development in areas of strength to other teachers across the grade level or the school. 

Promotion Process

• On corporate letterhead, and signed by a supervisor, a letter announcing promotion and the new job title is sent to the employee. Any corresponding raise in salary associated with promotion is communicated in this letter along with the start date of the new job title.  

Increasing Salary with Promotion - The Expectation

Examples of Fully Funded Teacher Promotion

• The salary increase associated with promotion, in principal, must be significantly larger than annual wage increases meant to offset inflation or annual merit pay increases given for good performance from year to year. 

• To significantly change the lives of teachers, elevate the social status of the teaching profession, retain outstanding professionals in the classroom for a longer period of time, and attract a higher quality applicant pool to the profession in the first place, the salary increase should be 33% of the candidates current salary. 

  • Example 1: Lead Teacher Promoted to Prominent Teacher. The teacher earned $25 / hr (approx. $40,000 USD) before promotion and now earns $33.25 / hr after promotion ($53,200).  

  •  Example 2: Prominent Teacher Promoted to Distinguished Teacher. Four years after being promoted, a Prominent Teacher is promoted again to Distinguished Teacher. During the interim four years there have been small salary increases to adjust for inflation (e.g. 12% overall) leading to a current salary of $37.25 per hour ($59,600). When promoted to Distinguished teacher the new salary is 33% higher or $49.54 / hour ($79,268). 

  • Result when starting at $40,000: a new teacher earning approximately $40,000 in Year 1 has the potential to earn $80,000 starting in their 8th year of employment after the two promotions. This allows a 23 year old new teacher to be earning a respectable wage by the age of 30, and therefore remain in the profession without needing to rely on a second job or a partner's dual income to live in the middle class.  

  • Result when starting at $60,000: a teacher starting at $60,000 in Year 1 would be earning $120,000 after both promotions, starting in their 8th year of classroom teaching. With an income comfortably over $100,000, outstanding teachers will not need to jump to administrative, faculty or other specialist roles to achieve a high standard of living.  

Adopting a Transitional Teacher Promotion Plan

Small or Modest Raises with Promotion

• Achieving the goal of significant teacher pay increases tied to promotions will require public funding for widespread adoption (i.e. fully funded teacher promotion). The transition from today's system of non-promotion to fully funded teacher promotion will take multiple years of research, advocacy and policy-making to universally implement. Therefore, a transitional promotion plan is recommended for experimentation and case study by individual employers. 

• A Transitional Teacher Promotion Plan is a pilot teacher promotion effort implemented by one or more employers or districts in which modest raises are provided at promotion using funding from private foundations or other accessible public or private sources. 

• A transitional teacher promotion plan awards the job title changes listed above and provides any available additional funding towards salary increases. 

Promotion without Salary Increase - The Temporary Exception 

• Should funding not be available to provide a meaningful and significant salary increase at the time of promotion, the teacher's new job title should still be recognized and awarded to the employee by the employer so that the value of the teacher's efforts can be privately and publicly recorded and acknowledged. This allows the teacher to change their official job title in correspondence, on a resume and on social media platforms, communicating publicly their track record of recognized performance.