Ask the Expert: Robin Chait on the Teacher Incentive Fund

What is the Teacher Incentive Fund?

The Teacher Incentive Fund provides federal funding to support pay-for-performance programs for teachers and principals in high-need schools. Pay-for-performance programs reward teachers for getting results with students in the classrooms. These programs are really important for attracting and retaining teachers in high-need schools. The Obama administration has proposed a significant increase in funding, and we think that this is really important. High-need schools need effective teachers to work.

How would the Fund help improve education?

Education reforms can't be successful without effective teachers. Among all school resources, teachers matter most for improving student learning, especially for students in poverty. High-poverty schools need financial incentives in order to be able to compete in the labor market for teachers and attract the best and brightest.

Why are performance-based systems likely to be successful in schools?

There are a number of examples throughout the country that show that this strategy can work. For example, in Chicago, preliminary research findings show that the pay-for-performance program there has increased teacher retention and provided more support for new teachers. In Denver, in Gilford County, the programs there are having a positive impact on student achievement. And the Teacher Advancement Program, which is a pay for performance program that incorporates additional roles and responsibilities for teachers, a high-quality evaluation system, and professional development, has had a positive impact on student achievement on a number of schools throughout the country. The way we currently pay teachers in this country isn't working. There's a strong consensus that it's not working and we need to try different things. Pay for performance is one of the most promising strategies that we have to experiment with in order to reinvigorate the teacher workforce, especially in high-poverty schools.