The Teacher Transfer Incentive project was designed to establish whether excellent teachers in large districts would transfer to low-performing schools for an additional stipend, whether they would remain at those schools, and whether they would have a positive impact. Results of this extensive and well-executed study are not encouraging. Of 1,500 teachers actively encouraged to transfer, 5% actually did. While 90% of transfer teachers stayed the full two years required to collect their full stipend, only 60% planned to stay for a third year, the same rate as for teachers not receiving the incentive. Elementary school students seem to have benefitted modestly from these teachers, but middle school students appear not to have benefitted. The results suggest that a financial incentive would have to remain in place longer to continue high teacher retention rates, making the program much more expensive. The study was too short to draw conclusions about long-term impact, and the use of only test scores as an outcome measure further limits policy usefulness. Finally, a transfer policy that implies winners and losers raises ethical questions beyond the reach of this particular study.

Performance pay plans for teachers are a hot topic across the nation, so the country’s largest program is bound to attract attention. But caution is advised. This is a state-sponsored program evaluation of Texas’ most recent incentive pay program rather than research, and it suffers from two major constraints: data not collected and questions not asked. First, although billed as “final,” data on teacher retention and teacher perceptions include only one award cycle, and student achievement data cover just two program years—not enough data to draw solid conclusions. In addition, little is known about how districts actually implemented D.A.T.E., or about such factors as school culture, leadership and class size. Second, the report primarily explores narrow descriptive questions about the Texas program—who participated and why, what design factors they chose to implement, and so forth. It does not consider broader questions such as whether incentive pay produces positive results, not just higher test scores, and under what conditions. The report simply answers the generally descriptive questions it poses, and its authors properly caution against drawing unwarranted conclusions beyond those questions.

Suggested Citation: Gratz, D.B. (2011). Review of “District Awards for Teacher Excellence Program: Final Report.” Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-district-awards