Common use of Incentive Pay Program Clause in Contracts

Incentive Pay Program. This program enables teachers who make exceptional contributions to student performance, professional growth applied to teaching, curriculum development or professional development to earn $1,089 in addition to their regularly scheduled salary. The plan's key features include: A. Teachers who apply for incentive payments shall be on tenure and shall have received an overall acceptable evaluation in the most recent year evaluated. B. Applicants for incentive pay are to present evidence of one or more of the following accomplishments: 1. Significant pupil performance growth in one or more instructional areas for students taught. 2. Substantial growth in personal professional competence during the year, including evidence of applying such growth to the instructional program. 3. Substantial contributions to the improvement of the curriculum of the schools or the professional competence of Southington teachers. C. A letter of interest in applying for incentive pay shall be submitted to the Superintendent by October 1. (See the attached Incentive Pay Proposal Form, which must be submitted with teacher's letter of interest, and which will produce the responses outlined in D. below). This letter of interest does not commit a teacher to submitting a final application the following May. D. An Incentive Pay Review Committee shall consist of two teachers each from the high school, middle schools, and elementary schools (selected by the SEA President), and six administrators designated by the Superintendent. This committee will review all proposals, comment on each, and state whether each proposal meets the incentive pay program requirements. Proposals that the Committee feels do not meet Incentive Pay requirements may be revised and resubmitted by November 15. E. The Incentive Pay Review Committee shall be available to teachers during the year for consultation and advice. Any teacher wishing such consultation purposes will then be set up. F. Teachers shall gather evidence of successful accomplishment of their proposal and prepare a Final Incentive Pay Report. G. Final Incentive Pay Reports shall be received by the Superintendent no later than May 1 each year. These reports shall be reviewed by the Incentive Pay Review Committee. Incentive pay shall be awarded in June to those recommended by the committee. H. An Incentive Pay Application Rating Sheet shall be completed by the committee for each application received. This Rating Sheet shall be returned to the teacher. I. Teachers, whose final applications are not approved, will be provided with the opportunity to meet with the committee and submit additional documentation and explanation to support the accomplishment of their proposal. Such requests must be submitted in writing within three (3) working days after receiving the Incentive Pay Committee's Rating Sheet. J. The Committee shall use the following criteria to determine whether an incentive pay will be granted or not: 1. Significant pupil performance - - performance above that which would normally be expected - the intensity of the impact on individual students - the relatedness of the performance to system goals 2. Substantial professional growth applied to teaching - - the importance of the growth - the relatedness of the growth to system goals or teacher assignment - the degree to which the growth affects pupil performance 3. Substantial contributions to curriculum or professional development - - the importance of the curriculum or the professional development to the system - the scope or breadth of the curriculum or professional development - the degree to which the curriculum or professional development was applied in the classroom K. Evidence to support the criteria, which may include the following: 1. Evidence of significant pupil performance - - process evidence - for example, samples of lessons or work completed by students which are above and beyond what is normally expected - product evidence - show the effect of the teacher's work, such as pre and post test comparisons on standardized tests, comparison of test scores to the norm, previous students, or comparison of pre and post writing samples or speech tapes by independent rates 2. Evidence of substantial professional growth applied to teaching - - evidence of substantial professional growth signifies the acquisition of real knowledge or skills of considerable worth to the teacher, such as a course completed or workshop or conference attended - evidence of the application to teaching again may be process or produce, as explained above (▇.▇.). A videotape, audio tape, or observation may also be evidence 3. Evidence of substantial contributions to the improvement of curriculum or training of Southington teachers - - evidence that curriculum is written with an eye to implementation - evidence curricular materials are useful to a number of other teachers, not just the writer - evidence of implementation or follow-up activities for teacher professional development