The Effects of Tennessee's Performance Pay Plan

The purpose of this study was to analyze each local school district's differentiated pay plan that was implemented in Tennessee during the 2008-2009 school year. The research questions for this study were (1) Is there a difference between what local school districts report regarding their differentiated pay plan and what the original pay plan reported to the Tennessee State Board of Education actually stated? (2) Is there a difference in the number of teachers recruited by local school districts for hard-to-staff schools the year of the implementation of the differentiated pay plan versus the year before the differentiated pay plan was implemented? (3) Is there a difference in the number of teachers recruited by local school districts for hard-to-staff subjects the year of the implementation of the differentiated pay plan versus the year before the differentiated pay plan was implemented? (4) Is there a difference in the number of new teachers recruited by local school districts the year of the implementation of the differentiated pay plan versus the year before the differentiated pay plan was implemented? (5) What do directors of schools report regarding the incentives offered to retain effective teachers? Data for this study were collected using the differentiated pay plans that each Tennessee school district submitted to the State Department of Education and surveys completed by Tennessee directors of schools. The sample consisted of 52 directors of schools in the state of Tennessee. A Wilcoxson test was used to analyze the data and found no significant difference between what school districts reported regarding their differentiated pay plan and what the original pay plan actually stated. Also, no significant difference was found when comparing the number of teachers before and after the differentiated pay plan was implemented. Further implications of the results are discussed.