Ridgeway Community School enters Q Comp program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
Contact: Joe McQuillen |
RIDGEWAY COMMUNITY SCHOOL
ENTERS Q COMP PROGRAM
~ Becomes the 13th charter school in the state to undertake professional development and
achievement-based pay plan for teachers ~
Ridgeway – Commissioner of Education Alice Seagren announced today that Ridgeway Community School is implementing Minnesota’s nation-leading Q Comp performance and professional pay program. Ridgeway is the 13th charter school in the state to participate in Q Comp, receiving $19,500 in state aid for the 2006-07 school year for implementation efforts.
“Ridgeway Community School further strengthens our conviction that schools of all sizes can benefit from Q Comp,” Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said. “Q Comp is a modern and professional way to pay teachers while allowing them to enhance and improve their skills, all of which leads to increased student achievement.”
In 2005, Governor Pawlenty proposed and the state legislature approved Minnesota’s Q Comp program. Q Comp provides up to $86 million for districts that join the program.
Q Comp is designed to advance the teaching profession by providing structured professional development and evaluation, as well as an alternative pay schedule that compensates teachers based on performance, not just seniority. The program brings together career advancement, professional development and compensation linked to academic achievement. It includes a locally agreed-upon peer evaluation process for every teacher that is based on skills, responsibilities and student academic growth. This plan is voluntary and will add up to an additional $260 per student in participating districts.
The Q Comp program gives participating school districts the flexibility to meet local needs within a comprehensive model of improved teaching and learning. At Ridgeway, administration and teacher representatives have agreed to the following:
Career advancement opportunities for teachers: The career ladder includes three positions with various duties and compensations. These positions are:
• Lead Teacher- Monitors and participates in teacher evaluations, initiates and leads staff development and continues to research strategies and techniques to support staff in the development of Q Comp. A $1,500 salary augmentation will be given as compensation.
• Mentor Teacher- Participates in teacher evaluations, assists in integrating staff development into the classroom and maintains and implements strategies developed for Q Comp goals in the classroom. A $750 salary augmentation will be given as compensation.
• Educational Leadership Team (ELT)- This is a team facilitated by the lead teacher and consists of the resource teacher and three classroom teachers, provides leadership and support for curriculum and professional development that will enhance and continuously improve academic achievement and selects the lead teacher and mentor teacher.
Job-embedded professional development: In the 2006-2007 school year, Ridgeway Community School will improve student achievement in reading fluency and comprehension on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) and Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) tests, by monitoring growth on an individual basis.
The school has determined that they need to target children who are reading lower than grade level, which according to the spring 2006 ITBS results is approximately 30% of the third and fifth graders. All students will improve by at least 3% on the 2006 MCA II reading test and/or ITBS, with specific emphasis on students reading below grade level. Until the MCA scores are received, the spring 2006 ITBS scores will be the baseline for these increases.
This will be accomplished with direct teacher instruction, using a team consisting of the classroom teacher, lead teacher and resource teacher. They will be team teaching during whole group, center or small group times throughout the day, within the Language Arts curriculum, including the instructional time, silent reading, journaling and handwriting. Orton Gillingham phonetic instruction will be applied to increase fluency and Accelerated Reader will be used to develop comprehension.
The lead teacher will facilitate staff trainings and structure a portion of those meetings to address Q Comp goals. The mentor teachers will assist the classroom teacher in making the Q Comp goals and staff trainings applicable to the classroom. Staff will use the professional development model collaborative time to determine what the teacher and student needs are, to evaluate the data and how to address these needs. It will provide time for on site curriculum and development trainings. In addition, the lead teacher will continue to assess the professional development needs of the staff by classroom instruction observations throughout the year.
Performance pay: A teacher’s compensation is based on the following factors:
1. 50% ($750) is based on teachers being rated at the proficient level or higher on 13 of 15 areas of the research-based professional standards during their observations/evaluations
2. 20% ($300) is based on the teacher’s successful participation in professional development activities that includes implementation in the classroom as evidenced by both classroom observations and student growth on ITBS and MCA test scores
3. 15% ($225) is based on evidence of 3% student growth on the ITBS and MCA tests in reading fluency and comprehension for individual students as identified during classroom observations and through small group or individual instruction and measured with teacher/student goals set and monitored through student/teacher conferences
4. 15%($225) is based on evidence of school-wide growth on the ITBS and MCA tests in reading fluency and comprehension as determined by the Q comp goals
Objective and comprehensive teacher evaluation: The school has adapted “The Framework for Teaching” rubric originally designed by Charlotte Danielson. This will be used three times a year, twice in the fall to assess areas for individual teachers to work on and once in the spring to assess growth and to establish goals for the following school year. The rubric includes 3 domains with 15 criteria covering planning and preparation in relation to knowledge of content, the classroom environment for establishing a culture for learning and instruction focusing on the teacher engaging student learning through a variety of instructional strategies.
Alternative professional pay schedule: Performance pay will be divided between school wide student gains, measures of student achievement, teacher evaluations and professional growth plans as outlined in component 3. In addition to performance pay career ladder, teachers are eligible for salary augmentations outlined in component 1 for performing the duties of their positions.
“The approval of our Q Comp program will enable us to become highly effective teachers through mentoring and coaching strategies along with professional development focusing on differentiated learning,” said Ridgeway Lead Teacher Kristee Partington.
Ridgeway is a K-5 charter school, serving around 76 students.
Ridgeway is the thirteenth charter school to be approved for the Q Comp program behind
Northfield School of Art and Technology (ARTech) ● Beacon Academy ● Duluth Public Schools Academy ● Sojourner Truth Academy ● Oh Day Aki Charter School ● Minnesota Transitions Charter School ● STRIDE Academy ● El Colegio Charter School ● Emily Charter ● TRIO Wolf Creek Charter School ● New Visions School ● Tarek Ibn Ziyad Charter School
School districts that started implementing the Q Comp program during the 2005-06 school year.
Minneapolis ● Hopkins ● St. Francis ● Mounds View ● St. Cloud ● Alexandria ● Fridley
● La Crescent-Hokah ● Marshall
School districts that began implementing the Q Comp program during the 2006-07 school year.
Grand Meadow ● Albert Lea ● Alden-Conger ● Brainerd ● Wayzata ● Eden Prairie ● Red Rock Central ● International Falls ● Le Center ● St. Louis Park ● Osseo ● Lac Qui Parle ● North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale ● Clearbrook-Gonvick ● Proctor ● Burnsville ● St. Anthony-New Brighton ● Minnetonka ● Delano ● Centennial ● Pine River ● Brandon ● South Washington County ● South Saint Paul ● Farmington
Several school districts have indicated to the Department of Education they are planning to submit an application for the 2007-08 school years.
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