Tough Times as Opportunity
Karen Hawley Miles October 3, 3012
Systemic Budget Gaps cost structure rises regardless of revenue
• Longevity based teaching salaries grow at ~2-4% annually
• Benefits growing at ~10+% annually
• SPED spending continues to grow
• Pre-set COLA increases
• Tax revenue falling
• Enrollment declining
• Drop in Federal Funds
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What do industrial-age structures mean for a 6th grade student like Tamika?
• Tamika has always loved school
• Proficient in reading but behind in math
• One of 100 students her math teacher is responsible for
• 2 out 4 of her teachers are novices
• Her teachers don’t know she’s behind
• Her teachers don’t know what makes her smile
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…and for her teacher, Ms. Jones?
• 100 students and two different courses
• no past information about Tamika
• no assessment tools or support for Tamika
• Has one duty-free period, but no time with other math teachers
• She sees her mentor who doesn’t teach math, but only for coffee
• Ms. Jones feels powerless and alone.
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1. Restructure job and compensation structure to attract needed expertise, promote teamwork, and link to contribution
2. Rethink standardized class size model to target individual attention by strategically raising class sizes and rethinking one-size-fits-all class size models for providing individual attention
3. Shift special education spending toward early intervention and targeted individual attention in general education settings where possible
4. Optimize existing time to meet student and teacher needs and extend where needed
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Four highest priorities for transformation:
High Performing Schools are about team, not just individual performance
Collaborative planning time
Formative assessments
School-based expert
support
Deliberate assignments to teaching team
Isolated with little support
OR
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Teacher Salary Components
ERS Analysis of partner and Aspen district salary structures
Base, 50%
Longevity, 30%
Education, 10%
Leadership, Responsibility, 10%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
TYPICAL DISTRICT MAXIMUM TEACHER SALARY =$75,000
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Most districts devote less than 5% of all teacher compensation spending to reward increased teacher
contribution or performance
Source: ERS Analysis
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
District with Senior Teacher Force
42%
7%
27%
24%
>1%
Benefits
Responsibility & Results
Longevity
Education
Base
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Attract Early career teacher salaries not competitive with comparable professional opportunities
Retain All teachers paid the same regardless of contribution or role. Slow rise in salary & pension structure encourages low performers to stay
Leverage Expertise
Limited opportunity or incentive to take on greater challenges or leadership roles
Industrial Age Compensation Structures don’t match needs of information age work-force
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To transform the teaching job, in the short term ...
To Support Sustainable Transformation
Invest transition resources to
• Build effective evaluation and data systems • Create new school designs that make teaching
job more doable • Design new compensation structures
To Reverse Misalignments
Cut spending by
• Reduce benefits spending • Shrink or end automatic step increases • Tighten approval process for moving lanes
Increase spending to
• Pay more for high-needs and leadership jobs • Support expert- led teacher teaming • Restructure time for teaming and planning
Education Resource Strategies, Inc.
1. Restructure job and compensation structure to attract needed expertise, promote teamwork and link to contribution
2. Rethink standardized class size model to target individual attention by strategically raising class sizes and rethinking one-size-fits-all class size models for providing individual attention
3. Shift special education spending toward early intervention and targeted individual attention in general education settings where possible
4. Optimize existing time to meet student and teacher needs and extend where needed
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Four highest priorities for transformation
Education Resource Strategies, Inc.
Most schools have significant numbers of adults
Instructor = Teachers & para’s
7
9
10
12
17
23
0 10 20 30
Pupils per Staff
Pupils per Professional
Pupils per Instructor
Pubils per Teacher
Regular Ed Student Teacher Ratio
Regular Class Size
Example District: Elementary School-Level Staffing Ratios
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“Push in” models that utilize expert resource teachers can increase individual attention and
build teaching capacity and community
Student : Teacher ratio—18:1 Student : Teacher ratio—9:1
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Typically secondary schools don’t vary class size by subjects
26 25 28 28 27
24
41
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
ELA Math Science Social Studies
Language Non Core PE/Health
Ave
rage
Cla
ss S
ize
Class Size (General Ed)
Note: Core includes ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies & Foreign Language. NonCore includes art/music, voc/career & computer literacy, internships & ROTC.
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22 23 23 22
Level 1: Basic
Level 2 Level 3 Level 4: Advanced
9th Grade Math: Size by Need
20 19 21 21 20 15
7 8 9 10 11 12
Math: Class Size by Grade
*Source: RCSD SY0910 Budget; RCSD SY0910 BEDS data; ERS analysis
Even within core classes, class sizes are not necessarily being differentiated strategically by
grade or student need
Grade Level
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Legacy practices mean students face sudden loss of personal attention from teachers in
middle school
21
125
150
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
K–5 6–8 9–12
Nu
mb
er
Stu
de
nts
Se
en
By
Re
gu
lar
Ed
Te
ac
he
r
Teacher Pupil Load in Academic Subjects Typical Urban District
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Cycle of Isolation and Specialization
Large, diverse classes
Teachers without needed expertise and support
Remove “problem” student
Administration to coordinate
Resources and responsibility fragmented
Add on support
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More spending on separate classrooms means less on early intervention
Note: Excluded are all district Alternative/Adult schools. Sources: SY10 October enrollment, district budget as of 10/09. Excludes students who did not report; ELL includes those currently in programs, excludes students who opted-out
$11.7 $15.2
$19.9
$42.6
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
$40
$45
Fully
Allo
cate
d $
Pe
r P
up
il
(Th
ou
san
ds)
SAMPLE DISTRICT SPENDING BY STUDENT TYPE 2009-2010
General Ed LEP Sped Resource Sped Separate Enrollment: 37.8K 6.6K 5.4K 5.5K
Weight: 1.0 1.2 1.7 3.5
Poverty Increment
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To target individual attention to students, in the short term ...
To Support Sustainable Transformation
Invest transition resources in
• Expert support and PD to increase teacher capacity to use individual attention strategies
• Formative assessments and tools to enable targeted instruction and grouping
• Technology to leverage teacher time and customize instruction
To Reverse Misalignments
Reduce spending by…
• Increase general class size targets • Increase class size for low need students, grades and
subjects
Increase spending to …
• Reduce group size for high need students, skills, grade levels and subjects
• Pay teachers more for dual certification (ELL and Sped)
Education Resource Strategies, Inc.
1. Restructure job and compensation structure to attract needed expertise, promote teamwork and link to contribution
2. Rethink standardized class size model to target individual attention by strategically raising class sizes and rethinking one-size-fits-all class size models for providing individual attention
3. Shift special education spending toward early intervention and targeted individual attention in general education settings where possible
4. Optimize existing time to meet student and teacher needs and extend where needed
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Four highest priorities for transformation :
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Question Slide
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You Have Choices Trade-offs for Transformation
For the same cost a typical 25,000 student urban district can:
Reduce class sizes grades 4-
12 by 2
Pay the top contributing
15% of teachers $10K
more
OR
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Trade-offs for Transformation
For the same cost a typical 25,000 student urban district can:
Allow benefits spending to increase by
10%
Add 60 minutes to the school day in
the 25% lowest performing
schools
OR
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Trade-offs for Transformation
For the same cost a typical 25,000 student urban district can:
Give all teachers
annual step increase
Provide half-day PreK for
50% of incoming
Kindergarten students
OR
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Transform Now
Play
Learn more
about budget
trade-offs
during tough
times.
Assess
Explore the
seven strategies
and begin to
quantify where
your district
stands.
Analyze
Find the tools you
need to connect
your resource
decisions to
improving
performance.
Make Trade-Offs
Go deeper and
explore
strategy-
specific self-
assessments.
ResourceCheck TM ERStrategies.
org
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