Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) performance pay evaluation study design report¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 8 claims (8 for) · 5 studies (4 causal, 1 design), q1–q3 · 0 of 5 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A study design report prepared by Mathematica Policy Research for the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Evaluation, as part of the Pay-for-Performance: Evaluating the Teacher Incentive Fund project (2009-2017). The article states it "provides contextual background on performance pay programs, characteristics of participating TIF grantee schools, and details on the TIF evaluation study design." It is a planning artifact for a rigorous evaluation rather than a report of results.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• The evaluation design is situated within the Teacher Incentive Fund grantee schools whose characteristics the report documents

Constraints¶

• The supplied text reports design and context only; no impact estimates are printed

Target Learners¶

• K-12 students in TIF grantee schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• Student achievement under teacher performance pay; educator attitudes, awareness, mobility, and recruitment

Claims¶

• The TIF evaluation is designed to estimate impacts of performance pay on student achievement and on educators' attitudes, awareness, mobility, and recruitment [+W]
• After three years of Teacher Incentive Fund implementation, pay-for-performance bonuses had small positive impacts on student math and reading achievement in ten evaluation districts [+W]
• Few districts structured pay-for-performance bonuses to align well with TIF grant guidance [+W]
• Offering pay-for-performance bonuses in 10 TIF districts increased student reading achievement by 1 percentile point after two years, with a similar-magnitude but statistically non-significant math effect [+W]
• Many teachers misunderstood whether they were eligible for performance bonuses or the amount they could earn [+W]
• A study of a $20,000 selective transfer incentive examined high-performing teachers' behavioral responses in 10 districts [+W]
• In the 2010 TIF pay-for-performance programs, over 60% of teachers received a bonus, with average bonuses of about $1,800 and top performers earning more than 3 times the average [+W]
• The average TIF bonus was about 4% of average teacher salary, below the 5% recommended by TIF grant guidance for substantial bonuses [+W]

Related Elements¶

• Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) school award program
• A guide for states on evaluating ARRA-funded programs and other educational reforms
• Independent impact evaluation by Mathematica Policy Research
• Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) performance-based compensation grants for high-need schools
• Mathematica multi-site random assignment evaluation of TIF pay-for-performance bonuses
• Design report for the evaluation of the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) initiative

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Steven Glazerman, Hanley Chiang, Alison Wellington, Jill Constantine, Dan Player. (2011). Impacts of Performance Pay Under the Teacher Incentive Fund: Study Design Report. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/impacts-of-performance-pay-under-the-teacher-incentive-fund-study-design-report