Minnesota teachers' perceptions of alternative compensation plan

Alternative compensation revenue was created by the Minnesota legislature in 2005 to encourage school districts to reform the single salary structure and adopt new alternative pay structures. The approved plan called Quality Compensation for Teachers, or Q Comp, was driven by the need to improve student instruction, accountability, recruitment and retention of teachers, higher teacher salaries, and reducing the differences in salaries between junior and senior teachers.;There were three primary purposes of the study. The first purpose was to determine Minnesota teachers' perceptions of alternative compensation plans including (a) career ladder component, (b) job-embedded professional development component, (c) instructional observations and standards-based assessments component, (d) measures to determine student growth component, and (e) alternative compensation and performance pay component. The second purpose was to compare the extent to which teachers rate alternative compensation based on selected teacher characteristics. The third purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which teachers' perceptions of alternative compensation plans differ between those who do and do not participate in the development of the district plan.;A researcher-developed survey instrument was used to collect data from a random sample of 550 Minnesota public and charter elementary, middle/junior high, and high school teachers. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including means, standard deviations, t tests, and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAS). All significant analyses of variance were followed by Turkey's post-hoc procedure.;Primary conclusions to emerge from this study include the following. (1) Teachers are most supportive of the career ladder and job-embedded professional development components of an alternative compensation plan. (2) Teachers are least supportive of the measures to determine student growth component of an alternative compensation plan. (3) Teachers with a bachelors degree are more supportive of an alternative compensation component than teachers with a master's degree. (4) Teachers with least experience are more supportive of alternative compensation plans than those with greater teaching experience. (5) Charter school teachers are more supportive of alternative compensation plans than are public school teachers. (6) The alternative compensation component appeals least to teachers who perceive themselves as exceptional teachers. (7) Teachers who participate in writing the Q Comp plan for their school are more supportive of alternative compensation plans than teachers who do not participate.