Characteristics of teacher incentive pay programs: a statewide district survey
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-09-2013-0106 |
| Pages | 702-717 |
| Published date | 07 September 2015 |
| Date | 07 September 2015 |
| Author | Guodong Liang,Motoko Akiba |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy |
Characteristics of teacher
incentive pay programs:
a statewide district survey
Guodong Liang
Community Training and Assistance Center,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and
Motoko Akiba
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of teacher incentive pay
programs used by midsize to large school districts in Missouri.
Design/methodology/approach –This study primarily used the Teacher Compensation Programs
(TCP) survey data. The TCP survey was developed by the authors to understand the nature
and characteristics of financial incentives that Missouri districts used to recruit, reward, and retain
quality teachers.
Findings –The data showed that, during the 2009-2010 academic year, 32 percent of the districts
offered at least one financial incentive to recruit or retain teachers. Districts were more likely to reward
teachers for obtaining National Board certification and for assuming extra duties than for teaching
in the subject areas of shortage or in hard-to-staff schools. Larger districts with higher teacher salary
were more likely than small districts to offer a larger number of incentive pay programs.
Originality/value –The findings of this study advance our knowledge of local incentive pay policies.
It also contributes to the global discourse of teacher compensation and incentives and can be
informative to policymakers in the USA and around the world when designing and implementing
incentive pay programs to teachers. Further, it sheds light on the important policy question of whether
disadvantaged local educational agencies are more likely to use incentive pay programs to recruit and
retain teachers and promote an equitable distribution of the teacher workforce. This informs the
decision making of providing targeted support to those in need.
Keywords Educational policy, Educational research, Survey, Incentive pay, Questionnaire,
Performance-related pay, Differentiated compensation
Paper type Research paper
The recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers remains challenging for
many countries in the world. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2015, 6.8 million
teachers need to be recruited to ensure quality primary education for all children
globally (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012). In addition, research has shown that
academically talented college students are less likely to become teachers and effective
teachers in subject areas of shortage are more likely to leave the profession (Hoxby and
Leigh, 2004; Podgursky et al., 2004). Among the many promising approaches, providing
adequate and targeted financial incentives is of particular interest to policymakers and
about half of OECD countries have implemented some element of financial reward for
teacher performance (Asia Society, 2011).
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 53 No. 6, 2015
pp. 702-717
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-09-2013-0106
Received 15 September 2013
Revised 3 June 2014
Accepted 4 June 2014
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
The authors would like to thank Dr Michael Podgursky for his tremendous support and the two
anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments.
702
JEA
53,6
In the USA, there is a growing national interest in using incentive pay programs
(Liang, 2013a; Podgursky and Springer, 2007). Under the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal government issued the $4.35 billion Race to the
Top Fund and one goal of the program is to reform educator compensation systems by
providing additional pay to highly effective teachers and principals (US. Dep artment of
Education, nd). By the 2011-2012 academic year, states across the nation have enacted
policies of providing financial incentives to recruit teachers in math (15 states), science
(15 states), and special education (15 states), and to attract teachers to schools of hig h
poverty (8 states), low performance (ten states), or geographic isolation (three states).
In addition, 24 states had policies of rewarding teachers for obtaining National Boa rd
certification, 15 states for taking on differentiated roles, and 11 states for raising
student achievement (Education Counts Research Center, nd).
In spite of this increasing global interest, the knowledge base on the implementation
of these programs is still limited (Loeb et al., 2009; Podgursky and Springer, 2007). Little
empirical work exists that comprehensively examined the use of different f inancial
incentives, and the characteristics of these programs. To fill this knowledge gap, this
study used survey data collected in 2011 from 125 midsize to large districts in the state
of Missouri in the USA, and examined four important elements of teacher incentive pay
programs: target teachers of the program; criteria used for offering financial incentives;
types of payment; and amount of awards. In addition, it examined the relationship
between district characteristics and the offering of these programs. Specifically,
it examined the following research questions:
RQ1. What percentage of districts in Missouri offered incentive pay programs to
recruit and retain teachers during the 2009-2010 academic year?
RQ2. What were the characteristics of teacher incentive pay programs (i.e. criteria
used for offeringfinancial incentives, types of payment,and amount of awards)?
RQ3. What were the characteristics of the districts that offered incentive pay
programs during the 2009-2010 academic year?
The findings of this study advance our knowledge of local incentive pay policies and
provide policymakers with implementation data. It also contributes to the global discourse
of teacher compensation and incentives and can be informative to policymakers in the USA
and around the world when design and implement incentive pay programs to teachers.
Further, it sheds light on the important policy question of whether disadvantaged local
educational agencies are more likely to use incentive pay programs to recruit and retain
teachers and promote an equitable distribution of the teacher workforce. This informs the
decision making of providing targeted support to those in need.
Literature review
Human resource (HR) management and financial incentives
Building a strong teacher workforce of capacity and expertise is a key function of HR
management to enhance educational outcomes (Myung et al., 2013). A comprehensive
HR system requires three inter-connected subsystems on teacher recruitment and
retention: getting the right teachers in the right positions, supporting and developing
teachers with professional growth, and sustaining high-performing teachers. All these
subsystems are critical to enhancing teacher capabilities and improving classroom
instruction (Myung et al., 2013). Research shows that a teacher’s career decision can be
influenced by a variety of factors such as earning opportunities outside the profession
703
Teacher
incentive pay
programs
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