The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $35 million grant to the state of Tennessee to help develop and implement new performance-based pay systems in schools across the state, according to a release from the state’s Department of Education.
“This grant will help us provide our students with the effective support they need and improve the overall education climate across the state,” Education Commissioner Tim Webb said in a written statement.
The news release says performance-based approaches incorporate different measures in evaluating teachers and principals. They include “student academic achievement, financial incentives and educator recognition to encourage teachers to take on additional responsibilities and leadership roles.”
The grant dollars are to be distributed over five years. The first year of the grant, according to the education department, will be a planning year, allowing district- and school-level teams to design reform plans in conjunction with key stakeholders.
The announcement comes two days after Vanderbilt University released a groundbreaking study that says awarding teachers with bonuses alone does not correlate with higher student achievement.