Advance Innovative Education Considering Performance Pay for Major Certification Drive

We’ve been spending some time looking at the great work being done by Advance Innovative Education in Louisiana, and we recently fell upon this blog post, Modeling Entrepreneurship for Better Education Results. It’s a call to action that has become more prevalent as education advocacy groups reach for ways to bring more commitment and excellence into the nation’s schools. Measure performance in schools, and pay teachers in performance or merit-based contracts to enhance the flow of excellent teachers into the neediest school districts.

Hebert said one of the key takeaways from her participation in the institute was the need for a rigorous approach to measure performance. Based on their work on the social impact model, AIE’s staff developed a business plan that served as the organization’s capstone project for the institute. In addition to laying out AIE’s program goals and vision, the plan offered a range of indicators and performance measures that AIE and its clients can use to judge the ultimate impact of the organization’s work.

That idea has become huge as of late. AIE may start working with its clients to ensure that teachers are well compensated for quality work.

AIE is so committed to attaching measurable outcomes to its work that it is contemplating pay-for-performance contracts with clients. As Hebert explained, the organization might get a bonus if its work results in a specified increase in school performance scores among the schools it’s working with.