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Report says LR merit pay program helps students Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A study of a teacher pay-for-performance program in Little Rock schools showed students made notable gains in standardized test scores, a University of Arkansas professor said Tuesday. "We found a six to seven percentile improvement," Gary Ritter, director of the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas, said in a telephone interview from Fayetteville. "It appears to make a positive difference." A planned Tuesday news conference to announce the study results was canceled because of bad weather in Northwest Arkansas. Five Little Rock elementary schools participated in the Achievement Challenge Pilot Project (ACPP) studied by UA researchers. The teachers and staff received bonuses that varied based on the level of increases in student achievement in each teacher's school. Under the project, teachers could earn a bonus worth as much as $11,000. During the 2005-2006 school year, Meadowcliff and Wakefield elementary schools participated. Geyer Springs, Mabelvale and Romine elementary schools participated during the 2006-2007 school year. Ritter said students whose teachers participated in the program scored nearly seven percentile points better in math, nine percentile points better in language and six percentile points higher in reading. In the study, UA researchers also surveyed teachers about their attitudes on merit pay. In general, Ritter said, the merit pay teachers did not indicate they were more innovative in their teaching or worked harder, two often cited potential benefits of merit pay. With regard to frequently cited disadvantages of merit pay programs, teachers surveyed did not report undue competition among their peers, did not say they experienced a negative work environment or did not say they shied away from working with low-performing students, Ritter said. In his state-of-the-state address last year, Gov. Mike Beebe called for a state merit pay pilot project. Lawmakers approved a $2.5 million pilot program - Rewarding Excellence in Academic Performance (REAP) - that is to begin this fall. Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said Tuesday the governor had not seen the UA study, but said Beebe "obviously feels that alternative pay is something the state should be looking into in order to find ways to encourage teacher quality." "The REAP program is the path we're on in trying to find something that is both effective and sustainable statewide," DeCample said. |
