Monday, September 16, 2024
With teacher retention rate at an all-time high across Texas, Granbury Independent School District is taking significant steps to improve retention and recruitment across the board.
During the GISD board of trustees meeting Aug. 19, it was revealed the district is in the process of implementing a new program aimed at recognizing and compensating top-performing teachers.
TEACHER INCENTIVE ALLOTMENT PROGRAM
The program, Teacher Incentive Allotment, was established by House Bill 3 during the 86th Texas Legislature, and will offer Texas teachers six-figure salaries based on their performance and designation.
According to a video shown at the meeting, the goal of TIA is to reward, retain and recruit effective teachers, while also improving student outcomes. The TIA website states that through local designation systems, districts can identify and designate outstanding teachers based on student growth and classroom observation. In return, teachers are eligible to generate funds for their district based on their performance.
The TIA is built into the Texas school funding formula, and districts receive an annual allotment for each eligible teacher they employ. The amount of the allotment depends on the teacher's designation level and the campus where they work.
Teachers can earn designations in three levels: recognized, exemplary or master. The district will receive a TIA allotment between $3,000 and $32,000 for each employee designated teacher, with higher amounts for rural and high-need areas. Educators can also reach recognized status by obtaining a national board certification.
Once a designation is achieved, it lasts five years, or until a teacher’s national board certification expires. A teacher's designation will move with them if they decide to work in another district. If the teacher meets eligibility requirements at their new district, then the funds generated will be awarded to the new district during the next year's allotment cycle.
Districts who want to be approved for a local teacher designation system will need to develop and implement a system based on teacher observation and student growth measures. The Texas Education Agency approves district systems based on their validity and reliability.
According to the video, getting approval for a local teacher designation system involves a two step process over three school years.
First, the district develops its system and submits it to the Texas Education Agency for review. After TEA approves the application, the district starts gathering data about teacher performance and student growth. In the following year, the district submits this data and proposed designations to Texas Tech University for validation. TEA then reviews this validated data to give final approval for issuing designations.
Districts can use the TIA funds in several ways, but they must spend at least 90% of the allotment on teacher compensation at the designated teacher's campus. They can also use up to 10% of the funds to support the local designation system, or they can split the funding with other eligible educators.
GISD’S PROGRESS SO FAR
Stacie Brown, GISD’s director of curriculum and instruction, explained to the board during the Aug. 19 meeting that the district is only in year one of applying for the designation. She said GISD is currently focused on developing its local designation system, and that the district has already completed a letter of interest, appointed a TIA lead, and set up a dedicated email for inquiries.
Brown explained the district has also already formed a local designation development committee with input from principals across various educational fields to ensure a well-rounded group. Recently, the committee was briefed by representatives from Crowley ISD, who shared their experiences from their fourth year in the TIA program.
For the fall, three specialized committees have been created to handle student growth measures, T-test evaluations and communications. Weekly meetings, dubbed "TIA Tuesdays," will continue through January, with all information and meeting minutes posted on the GISD website to keep the community informed.
NEXT STEPS
Brown also outlined the upcoming steps in the process. The district will submit its application to the TEA in April. After receiving TEA approval, the district will begin capturing data on teacher performance and student growth. This data will be validated by Texas Tech University before TEA reviews it for final approval. By the end of the third year, in February, the district will announce which teachers have earned designations.
"The three big, critical decisions that we have to make with our committee this fall is who can earn the designation,” Brown said. “How are we going to decide which campuses/teachers are eligible? We have to make sure that we designate observations, student growth measures, and if there's any optional components that we want to consider, like ‘Do we want to be considering anybody that mentors a younger teacher?’ ‘Do we want to give them some sort of credit?’ ... Then we have to come back and we will decide how we want to distribute the funds and the timing of compensation.”
Brown noted Granbury ISD has welcomed designated teachers from other districts, including a teacher from Fort Worth last year. To accommodate this new addition, the district had to quickly create a spending plan to outline how the teacher’s compensation would be handled.
"You guys know the three big things: recruit, retain and reward,” she said. “We want to reward our teachers, and we want to recruit teachers from other places. The teacher that came from Fort Worth, they only received 75% of the funds, so we decided, with Fort Worth salary, we wanted to give 90% of those funds back directly to the teacher. You can start to compete with other districts depending upon the percentage that you give back to your teachers, as well as the timing of compensation."
Brown noted that GISD must allocate at least 90% of its TIA funds directly to teacher salaries for those in classroom roles. The remaining 10% will be used to support district initiatives, including funding for National Board Certification cohorts and potential extras like mentoring programs or various surveys. She said the district is exploring how to best utilize this portion of the budget to enhance their support for teachers and improve educational outcomes.
According to Brown, GISD will dedicate the next four Tuesdays to developing its student growth measurement system, followed by three Tuesdays focusing on evaluation and calibration processes. Additionally, they will work on establishing effective communication channels between the district and schools.
“One of the big things that Crowley said to us is start with your highest area of need — start small,” Brown said. “We know that the national board certification is available for any teacher right now, so we will make sure that we review that with our local designation district committee.”
Feedback will be gathered from campus administrators, and a draft of the Teacher Incentive Allotment guidebook will be posted online for public review before submitting the final application to the Texas Education Agency.
BOARD MEMBERS WEIGH IN
Following Brown’s presentation, GISD Board President Barbara Townsend asked if every school district had a different way of handling the Teacher Incentive Allotment program.
Brown confirmed that every district follows a “unique” approach, and that GISD has consulted and reviewed 50 different guidebooks from across the state.
“I know it's a lot of work for the teachers, but in the end, it's worth it,” Vice President Courtney Gore said. “I just want to make sure we're making sure it's worth it for the teachers. I've talked to some teachers where it wasn't worth their time to put in the effort, because at the end of the day, they just weren't getting enough of that allotment, so I want to make sure we're compensating our teachers fairly for the amount of work they're going to be putting into this.”
Brown clarified that the National Board Certification differs from the TIA system. She explained that under TIA, the district is responsible for tracking and documenting student growth, rather than the teachers themselves.
She added that GISD has also developed a system for this process, including calibration based on past data to estimate how many teachers might receive designations. Brown said this system aligns with state standards for recognized, exemplary and master levels, ensuring that designations are consistent across the state, not just within the district.
“There are financial incentives for teachers to go through this quite complex process, correct?” Secretary Billy Wimberly asked Brown.
“There are,” she said. “It is tied specifically financially to teachers, and we would want our spending plan to reflect — like Mrs. Gore said — we want our teachers to get the majority. Obviously, 90% has to be given back for the local designation, so there are multiple ways, but not all teachers have a student-based measure.”
Brown also confirmed that the monies provided by TIA are not sourced locally but are instead allocated from the Foundation School Program. This state-level funding is managed and distributed directly by the state, rather than being drawn from district budgets.
“And why didn’t we start this earlier?” Wimberly asked, chuckling.
"We did, believe it or not,” Brown said, adding that efforts to initiate the program had been underway for years, led by GISD principals Margaret Rodriguez and Maggie Walton. “They had done that for multiple years, but they were not getting the level of buy-in that they were wanting. When teachers started getting money, it’s what started increasing the buy in, and then we were like, ’Listen, we're going to go forward with this.’ Maggie and Margaret have been working for several years ahead of this as well.”
Place 2 Trustee Nancy Alana acknowledged that the report was an introduction to the new program and noted that more detailed updates will be provided throughout the year.
"Great job,” she said. “Y'all have put in a lot of work.”
“I know this is a heavy lift by your department, but I think it's worthwhile,” GISD Superintendent Jeremy Glenn said. “I know I speak to a lot of teachers, and they are certainly tracking TIA as we go to recruit and retain the best teachers. This is just another resource and another pool of money we can look at, so thank you guys for what you're doing, being champions for kids. We appreciate it.”
