Great educators matter in students’ lives. Since 2010, the Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA) has sought to increase student access to high quality teachers via innovative educator evaluation and compensation systems funded by three federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants. Based on multiple measures of student growth, educator practice, and school climate, these rigorous, valid, and reliable systems can create enduring improvement in instructional practice and student achievement. We are proud to support MCESA in the design, implementation, validation, and refinement of these systems, helping to build a comprehensive portrait of educator performance and guide instructional practice, professional learning, and leadership.
MCESA’s Rewarding Excellence in Instruction and Leadership (REIL) district partners are creating sustainable pathways for improved instruction by changing the composition of the teacher workforce.
In school year 2014-15, our partnership delivered individualized feedback to over 2,050 teachers, coaches, and school leaders serving more than 50,000 students in Arizona school districts.
Between the 2012-13 and 2014-15 school years, there was increased retention of highly effective teachers and reduced retention of low performers.
It is important for schools and districts to monitor teacher retention and turnover, paying careful attention to the effectiveness of the teachers that are coming and going. The percentage of retained teachers who are highly effective increased in participating MCESA districts between 2012-13 and 2014-15 in participating districts while the retention of ineffective teachers decreased. This suggests a promising trend toward improving the composition of the local teacher workforce.
Quality teachers make a difference.
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