Experts Available to Discuss Performance-Based Pay for Teachers.

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TOPIC: The idea of basing teacher pay on student performance is gaining popularity in several U.S. states, according to an article by United Press International. Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski proposed legislation that would provide teachers and school administrators with bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $5,500 if their schools show a significant improvement on students' performance on standardized tests. However, teachers' unions usually do not allow such reforms to pass. For example, last year 14 states made teacher pay proposals and Minnesota was the only state that approved new legislation.

EXPERTS: ExpertSource can offer several highly qualified experts to comment on this story:

Having taught thousands of students and trained hundreds of teachers in hundreds of schools, Steve Peha, of Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc., is well-qualified to provide insightful commentary and thoughtful opinions on the state of education in America, including teacher quality and retention, best-practice instruction, testing and No Child Left Behind. An avid researcher, he also can speak authoritatively on current best practices, how kids learn and what teaching methods are truly effective. His combination of in-school work with teachers and kids, a real-world orientation from his years as an entrepreneur, and in-depth investigation of education issues and current research enable him to offer an informed and unique perspective on what we're doing right -- and wrong -- in education in America. Peha is the author of "Be A Writer: An Invitation to the Writing Life", a book for 9-14 year-old kids and their parents, due in April 2006. Peha believes that changing teacher compensation doesn't have to be complicated or controversial. Most people, even teachers, agree on three basic principles: (1) Good teachers should be paid more than bad teachers; (2) Teachers who can fill positions in high-need areas should be paid more money than teachers who fill positions in low-need areas; (3) Teachers who teach in communities with a high cost of living should be paid more than teachers who teach in communities with a low cost of living. To the extent that new approaches follow these guidelines, they are likely to be successful. One solution might be a tiered approach based on classifications of increasing stature like apprentice, associate, certified, master, and instructional coach. This would be an easy way to recognize valuable teachers and to compensate them in relation to their contribution. It would also provide a clear and inspiring path for career development, professional growth, and personal achievement.

Dr. Thomas Carroll, President, National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, leads the organization's efforts to raise standards for teaching and learning, improve professional development, and restructure school environments so that the needs of all students are met. Dr. Carroll has great expertise on education issues pertaining to teacher quality. In 2003, NCTAF released the groundbreaking report No Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children, which showed the United States has a teacher retention problem, not a teacher shortage. Dr. Carroll can provide examples on best practices for strong teacher induction or mentoring programs, and teacher preparation programs. He can offer a shrewd diagnosis of the problems that plague schools and offer strategies to turn those schools around. Of particular concern are the inequitable conditions that exist in many schools that serve low-income and minority students, NCTAF is working to make sure that all students have access to a quality education in a school organized for success.

Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr., of the University of Miami, completed a master's degree in History at Washington University in 1974 and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of Education in the Philosophy and History of Education in 1976. He has taught social studies at the secondary level and has NCATE lifetime certification. While in graduate school, although focusing primarily on historical and philosophical training, he received extensive background in ethnography and field-based research, as well as archival preservation and exhibit work. His career as a researcher has been interdisciplinary in nature. Throughout his work, his primary focus has been on education as a social and cultural phenomenon. A particularly important concern of his has been the role of the teacher in American society. He has also pursued interests related to the impact of computers on contemporary children, education and culture.

Dr. Merrill Vargo, executive director of Springboard Schools, is both an experienced academic and a practical expert in the field of school reform. She can address No Child Left Behind, standards-based teaching, best practices in K-12 education, and a wide variety of other educational topics. Before founding Springboard Schools (as the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative, BASRC) in January 1995, Dr. Vargo spent nine years teaching English in a variety of settings, managed her own consulting firm, and served as executive director of the California Institute for School Improvement, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that provides staff development and policy analysis for educators. She also served as Director of Regional Programs and Special Programs and Special Projects for the California Department of Education, where she provided leadership to several key school reform efforts, including the SB 1274 School Restructuring Initiative, Charter Schools, Goals 2000 and the School Improvement Program. Dr. Vargo's experience at the helm of Springboard Schools places her in the top ranks of the nation's school reformers. Hand-picked by an elite group of Bay Area educators and philanthropists to create BASRC (now Springboard Schools), one of nine urban school reform initiatives funded by the Philadelphia-based Annenberg Foundation, she is one of only two executive directors to have survived the politics and vicissitudes of the reform process for the duration of the "Annenberg Challenge." Under Dr. Vargo's leadership, BASRC became one of only four of the 19 Challenge sites to show achievement strong enough to win renewed grants from its original funders, the Annenberg Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation of Menlo Park, California. The Hewlett Foundation is the largest donor to Springboard Schools, and it was the largest single donor in matching grants for the Annenberg Challenge. A tireless advocate for learning as central to the human experience and for public schools as the cornerstone of democracy, Dr. Vargo consistently champions the needs of children including children growing up in poverty, children of color, and English Language Learners. A former teacher of English and an impassioned advocate for both standards and inspiring teaching, she has been both a student and a teacher in a variety of innovative programs and settings. Dr. Vargo is a product of the public school system and received her BA and Ph.D. in English literature as part of Cornell University's Ford Foundation-funded "Six Year PhD Program." She began her teaching career as part of the interdisciplinary "Freshman Honors Program" at the University of Delaware, a program that set out to serve bright high-school age students in a university setting. She also taught for three years at Deep Springs College, one of nation's oldest and most successful "small schools." Deep Springs students -- all 24 of them -- spend two years studying liberal arts courses while operating both the college and a high-desert cattle ranch.

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