09-R268
2009 -- H 5724
Enacted 05/20/09
H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N
RESPECTFULLY
REQUESTING THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO CONDUCT A STUDY OF
OPTIONS FOR CREATING A RESTRUCTURED PERFORMANCE-BASED SYSTEM OF TEACHER
COMPENSATION IN THE STATE OF
Introduced By: Representatives Gablinske, Brien, Edwards, Driver, and Pacheco
Date Introduced: February 26, 2009
WHEREAS, The primary goal of
students attain high performance standards, and to impel each
level of public education including
classrooms, schools, school districts, and the state, to pursue
this goal relentlessly; and
WHEREAS,
of teachers in hard-to-staff areas, including
mathematics, science, special education, and in low
income and low performing schools, which jeopardizes
students' academic opportunities; and
WHEREAS, Addressing the shortage of teachers in hard-to-staff
subjects and schools
requires multiple strategies, including, but not necessarily
limited to, expanding and strengthening
career pathways to encourage talented individuals to become
teachers in these hard-to-staff
subjects and schools, and restructuring compensation systems
to direct incentives and ongoing
support to new and existing teachers who are fostering
student achievement so that they will
choose to stay in
WHEREAS, A restructured compensation system based on teacher
performance, in
tandem with a realigned human capital development system,
will reinforce the message to
teachers, school and district administrators, students, and
parents that high expectations for
academic achievement are needed for all students, and that
instructional expertise will be
rewarded; and
WHEREAS, The development and implementation of performance-based
teacher
compensation systems, that consider and incorporate gains in
student academic achievement,
classroom evaluations conducted multiple times during each school
year, and other factors that
provide educators with incentives to take on additional
responsibilities and leadership roles, is
consistent with the priorities identified in the recently
authorized federal stimulus package
(H.B. 1); now, therefore be
it
RESOLVED,
That this House of Representatives of the State of
Providence Plantations
hereby requests the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education to
conduct a study of restructured performance-based teacher compensation
systems that would provide incentives to teachers for
developing their knowledge and
instructional skills in order to improve student learning. This
would enable schools, school
districts, and charter schools to recruit and retain effective
teachers in hard-to-staff subjects and
schools, including mathematics, science, special education,
and low-income schools, encourage
effective teachers to undertake challenging assignments, and
support teachers' and schools' roles
in improving students' educational achievement.
The
plan should identify:
(1)
Options for structuring performance-based teacher compensation systems in Rhode
Island based on reviews of
such systems in other states;
(2)
Changes to career opportunities within schools that would support a
restructured
performance-based teacher compensation system;
(3)
District level planning activities that need to take place;
(4)
Measures that could be used to assess teacher effectiveness;
(5)
Agreements that must be put into place;
(6)
Professional development that would need to accompany changes in compensation
structures;
(7)
Other aspects of school district human resource management systems that must be
addressed to support a restructured system of performance-based
compensation and professional
advancement that is based on documented instructional
effectiveness;
(8)
School districts' new or changed reporting responsibilities under alternative
compensation systems;
(9)
Fiscal implications for restructured performance-based teacher compensation
plans;
(10)
RIDE's role in supporting districts' development and
implementation of restructured
teacher compensation systems; and
(11)
Options for district level pilot programs; and be it
further
RESOLVED,
That this House requests that said study shall be
completed and a report
provided to the Speaker of the House on or before February 1,
2010; and be it further
RESOLVED,
That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is
authorized and directed to
transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Rhode
Island Commissioner of Elementary
and Secondary Education and the Chairman of the
and Secondary Education.
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LC02011
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