Project

Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program Evaluation

Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) is administering a five-year multifaceted initiative called Quality Education for All, the goal of which is to implement programs that help recruit and retain high-quality teachers and leaders for Duval County Public Schools. The Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program is a part of this effort.

The program has the following features: (1) it provides performance-based financial incentives to reward effective teachers; (2) it focuses on transformation schools and certain teaching subjects to recruit and retain effective educators to work at high-need schools and teach in hard-to-staff subject areas; and (3) it offers financial incentive to principals as well as teachers for school performance.

Project Summary

AIR is an independent evaluator for the Teacher Incentives Program at the JPEF. AIR is charged with conducting a mixed-methods evaluation of program implementation and outcomes. AIR will provide JPEF with ongoing formative feedback about the implementation successes and challenges, and summative feedback about the program’s impact on teacher and student outcomes.

Research Questions

Implementation research questions include the following:

Do teachers and school leaders understand how the Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program works?
Do teacher and school leaders understand the process by which they are evaluated?
What are the reasons for participation or nonparticipation in the program by teachers and school leaders?
Are the various components of the Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program implemented as planned?
What is the size of the pool of eligible teachers?
What are the characteristics and qualifications of eligible teachers?
Do the number of vacancies filled by eligible teachers in the district change over time?
Are recruitment and retention goals met throughout the implementation of the Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program?

Outcomes research questions include the following:

What is the impact of the Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program on teacher effectiveness? What characteristics contribute to teacher effectiveness?
What are the characteristics of teachers who move to high-need schools? What are the characteristics of teachers who are retained in high-need schools?
What is the impact of the Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program on principal turnover?
What is the impact of the Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program on student achievement?
What is the impact of the Jacksonville Teacher Incentives Program on school climate?