In April 2003, the Ladue School District in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, celebrated the 50th anniversary of its teacher evaluation and salary program. The long-standing success of this program, which provides salary increases for teachers on the basis of performance evaluations, stands in marked contrast to the history of failed attempts at teacher merit pay across the United States.
The Ladue School District Evaluation and Salary Program incorporates several key elements supported by the growing body of research on teacher motivation. Ladue's experience provides useful insights for other school districts struggling to attract and retain teachers through effective compensation programs.
The Merit Pay Dilemma
Although most teachers are attracted to the profession by the intrinsic satisfaction of working with students, research has found that teachers cite low pay as one of the major reasons for leaving (Goodlad, 1984; Harris & Associates, 1995). Kelley, Odden, Milanowski, and Heneman (2000) found that teachers derived satisfaction from seeing students learn more but that they also valued salary bonuses for meeting performance improvement targets. Although Murnane and Cohen (1986) found that merit pay did not have an appreciable effect on the way teachers teach, Jacobson (1995) concluded that monetary incentives do affect recruitment, retention, and attendance. Thus, school officials face the “persistent organizational dilemma” of trying to balance teachers' commitment to the needs of students and teachers' desire for financial rewards (Jacobson, 1995, p. 30).
Most merit pay plans have fallen victim to a variety of factors, including difficulties in evaluating personnel, teacher and union opposition, poor morale, staff dissension and competition, failure of plans to meet objectives, changes in school system philosophy or leadership, collective bargaining, and revenue shortfalls (Murnane & Cohen, 1986; Robinson, 1984).
Performance Criteria Developed by Teachers
Residents of the Ladue community place a high value on teacher quality. The school district enrolls approximately 3,200 students in six schools: one high school, one middle school, and four elementary schools. Many parents are college graduates; many are also employed in managerial and professional capacities. Each year, more than 90 percent of the district's high school graduates attend college. The district's achievement scores are among the highest in the state as measured by the Missouri Assessment Program.
Established in 1953, the Ladue School District Evaluation and Salary Program sought to improve instruction in an atmosphere of cooperation, respect, and trust. The program addressed problems that many schools still face today, including low teacher salaries, faculty retention problems, teacher quality concerns, morale issues, and the absence of a recognition and reward system.
Ladue administrators attribute the longevity of the incentive pay program to the role of the teacher committee that designs, revises, and monitors the program. The first Committee on Evaluation and Salary, composed of six teachers and four administrators, worked from a survey of all teachers in the district to develop evaluation criteria. These criteria have undergone revisions over the years to reflect teacher concerns and changing circumstances. For example, the committee has added criteria on the uses of technology to support instruction and is currently developing criteria on best teaching practices for a diverse student population.
In all cases, the evaluation criteria describe teacher behaviors. These include planning and preparation skills, knowledge of the approved curriculum and subject matter, effective delivery of instruction, maintenance of a learning environment that encourages mutual acceptance and respect, evaluation of student performance, and the ability to provide for individual differences and motivate students. The plan has never attempted to link the compensation of individual Ladue teachers to student achievement.
The current Committee on Evaluation and Salary includes eight teachers who serve as elected representatives, one teacher who is past chairperson, and three administrators, including Ladue Superintendent Stewart Weinberg. The group conducts regular faculty surveys, brings teacher concerns to administrators at monthly meetings, briefs new faculty on the incentive pay system, updates teachers on changes in the program, and recommends modifications in the evaluation system in an annual report to the state board of education. Weinberg observes,The professionalism of teachers serving on the committee is one of the greatest strengths of the program.
Evaluating Teachers According to the Criteria
Each teacher in the district has a specific principal or assistant principal who functions as his or her evaluator for instructional and extracurricular duties. Evaluators receive ongoing professional development to ensure that they have the knowledge, skills, and understanding to implement the program consistently throughout the district.
Teachers meet with their evaluators to review prior recommendations and develop goals for the new year. The evaluators then conduct periodic observations of teacher behaviors and rate them according to specific criteria. They also hold pre- and post-observation conferences and document their observations.
In the spring, the evaluators prepare summative evaluations of each teacher's performance along with specific recommendations for the coming year. As part of that document, teachers receive a numerical assessment of their performance according to designated standards. These performance points become the primary determinant of each teacher's salary increase when the board of education annually establishes a dollar amount per point, depending on available funds. The board meets to establish the point value after incentive points have been assigned for all teachers. Point values have remained fairly consistent in recent years, at approximately $150 per point.
Teachers who join the district with 0 to 5 years of experience can earn a maximum of 10 points for instructional assignments and a maximum of 4 points for optional, extracurricular duties. Teachers with more experience can earn a maximum of 13 points for instructional assignments and a maximum of 4 points for optional, extracurricular duties. In each instance, teacher performance is reflected by points on a continuum. There are no quotas on the number of teachers who may receive a given number of points, so teachers are not forced to compete directly against one another for a limited pool of funds. Teachers may also appeal their evaluations through a clearly defined, carefully documented process.
In most years, the board of education has also voted to adopt an across-the-board increase to keep salaries competitive with the local marketplace. Recent across-the-board adjustments have been in the $400–$500 range per teacher, regardless of individual performance appraisal. Annual teacher salary increases have averaged approximately 5 percent.
Ladue teacher salaries compare favorably with those in surrounding districts. The district does not use a teacher salary schedule or salary guide and does not set a maximum salary. The amount of each teacher's annual raise is determined by taking the total number of points earned from the performance appraisal, multiplying that number by the point value, and adding to that total the amount of the across-the-board adjustment.
Ladue does not award extra compensation for additional coursework or for graduate degrees earned after initial employment in the district. The district supports graduate study through a tuition assistance program that reimburses teachers up to $6,000 per degree program. A teacher can receive tuition assistance for an unlimited number of degrees during his or her employment.
Strengthening Teacher Satisfaction and Retention
The district has assessed teachers' perceptions of the Ladue School District Evaluation and Salary Program through confidential surveys. In 2001, in response to the question, “Does the evaluation and salary program provide you with an incentive to improve your teaching?”, 79.17 percent of the teachers answered “Yes.”
The same survey asked teachers what percent of the funds available for salary increases should be allocated to points reflecting the performance evaluation and what percent should go toward an across-the-board adjustment given equally to all teachers. The Committee on Evaluation and Salary uses the responses to this question to develop its salary recommendations to the board of education each year.
The majority of teachers (56.86 percent) preferred that 80 percent of the funds available for salary increases be allocated to points earned and that 20 percent go to an across-the-board adjustment. Another 14.71 percent of the teachers favored determining the entire salary increase by the performance evaluation. Almost all of the remaining respondents favored either a 50/50 split (24.02 percent) or a split of 20 percent for performance points and 80 percent for an across-the-board adjustment (3.92 percent).
Over the years, Ladue has enjoyed a strong record of teacher retention. Since 1993, an average of only 4.86 percent of Ladue's teachers have voluntarily left the district each year for reasons other than retirement. Of course, teachers stay in Ladue for many reasons other than salary: low student-teacher ratio (12:1); high per-pupil expenditure ($11,200); benefits, such as tuition reimbursement; a community that places a high value on education; and high-performing students.
Ladue's incentive pay program incorporates several components that underscore what researchers have learned about teacher motivation and retention. First and foremost is the involvement of teachers in program development and implementation. From the very beginning, the Evaluation and Salary Program has been the teachers' system (Committee on Evaluation and Salary, 1997). Involving teachers in all aspects of the incentive pay program has increased opportunities for collaboration. Such opportunities to influence the work environment enhance teachers' intrinsic satisfaction (Odden & Kelley, 2002).
The annual growth plans also reflect research findings that setting clear, specific, and attainable goals motivates teachers (Firestone, 1994; Heneman, 1998; Kelley et al., 2000; Lawler, 2000). Further, the collaboration between the teacher and evaluator during the growth-plan conference increases the likelihood that teachers will have the time and resources necessary for their goal attainment, another important ingredient of teacher efficacy (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2001). In addition, the absence of quotas greatly lessens the competition and dissension that have harmed other teacher incentive pay programs. The allocation of sufficient resources to make the increments meaningful also lessens the likelihood that teachers will leave Ladue for other districts or to pursue another career for monetary reasons (Kelley & Odden, 1995).
Making Incentive Pay Work
The staying power of the Ladue School District Evaluation and Salary Program suggests that incentive pay can work. To improve teacher retention, however, incentive pay programs must reflect the growing body of research on teacher motivation.
The fact that teachers enter their profession for the intrinsic satisfaction of working with students does not rule out the possibility that they will be motivated by extrinsic factors as well. In fact, opportunities to increase salary through performance—coupled with goal setting, collaboration, and participative management—may well enhance the intrinsic motivation that good teachers bring to their profession.
