This week, Houston Independent School District Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra announced a new incentive program for district teachers that will reward them for sharing their own ideas for good instructional strategies that improve student achievement.
Dr. Saavedra stated that the district…
…has contacted all 12,500 of its teachers and asked that they submit formal proposals for innovative ways to improve student achievement. The best proposals will be tried as pilot projects in the next school year.
This is really promising. Instead of programs and strategies being handed down “from the top”… the “top” is asking teachers to lead improvement in instructional strategies and rewarding them with financial incentives.
Apparently, this initiative by HISD was prompted by a concern raised in a recent HISD employee survey.
The survey showed that while a strong 74 percent of HISD teachers are satisfied with their jobs, more teachers than not said they don’t have an adequate opportunity to express their opinions.
Additionally, the district is also asking the teachers to submit proposals for HOW they should be compensated for the use of their instructional strategies. Interesting.
Dr. Saavedra said teachers are being asked to submit their ideas by May 12. A committee of teachers and administrators will review the proposals and select up to 10 ideas to be used during the 2006—2007 school year. The winning proposals will be announced on May 29, so that teachers can have time during the summer to prepare to put the ideas into effect as pilot programs.
I’ll post more info here as more news is released by the district over the coming months.
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