Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that the Marshall Public School District will implement the Governor's nation-leading Q Comp performance and professional pay program.  Marshall will be the ninth district in the state to opt into Q Comp, and will receive $576,940 for the 2005-06 school year for implementation efforts.

"By joining Q Comp, the Marshall School District has shown that they are education leaders and innovators," Governor Tim Pawlenty said. "Under Q Comp, teachers are paid for performance, meaningful professional development is provided for staff, and rigorous evaluation of instruction is conducted.  The end result is teachers who are treated as professionals and students who achieve better results." 

Governor Pawlenty proposed, and the state legislature approved, Minnesota's Q Comp program last year. It provides up to $86 million for districts that join the program over the next two school years.

Q Comp is designed to advance the teaching profession by providing structured professional development and evaluation, as well as an alternative pay schedule that compensates teachers based on performance, not just seniority. The program brings together career advancement, professional development and compensation linked to academic achievement. It includes a locally agreed upon peer evaluation process for every teacher that is based on skills, responsibilities and student academic growth. This plan is voluntary and will add another $260 per student in participating districts.

The Q Comp program gives participating school districts the flexibility to meet local needs within a comprehensive model of improved teaching and learning. In Marshall, the district administration and teachers union representatives have agreed to the following:

- Career advancement opportunities: There will be three career ladders for teachers:

o Peer Coach Teacher - Assists with the direction of individual professional development in a professional learning community, leads small group learning community focused on targeted professional development needs aligned to district continuous improvement goals, and conducts activities related to continuous improvement goals.  This position will receive additional compensation.
o Leadership Team Teacher - Serves as a liaison between the learning community and the district administration, assists the site leadership team in leading site-level goals setting process and participates in annual Baldrige Continuous Improvement Model incorporated into the district.  Additional annual stipend of $700.
o Coordinator Teacher - Works with Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Learning services to develop the goals of the peer review teams. The systems professional development and plans, and annual goal setting at the site levels.  This position will receive additional compensation.
o Mentor Teacher - Assists a mentored (probationary) teacher in a one-on-one setting with a variety of issues and provide peer review outside the function of the peer team.

- Integrated professional development: At each site, the professional development focused team meeting will average an hour per week and focus on instructional strategies specific to disaggregated student data with a clearly defined measurable objective.   
- Performance pay: The professional pay plan is based on: school-wide achievement results based on MCA II scores, NWEA student results aligned with individual growth plans and summative reviews with peer coaches, coordinators and administrators. 
- An alternative pay schedule:  Under the Marshall Compensation Model, "steps and lanes" have been eliminated and replaced with a performance appraisal system for all of its faculty members.  
- Comprehensive and objective teacher evaluation system: Teachers will be observed using the Standards and Criteria for Instructional Best Practices over the course of the school year by multiple evaluators and multiple times.  The Peer Coach and Administrator will complete a minimum of two formal observations per year and the Coordinator will complete a minimum of one formal observation per year for each career teacher (tenured teacher), each year.  Mentor teachers will complete three formal observations for mentored staff each year. 

"Marshall Public Schools is excited about the opportunities that exist through the Quality Compensation (Q Comp) program," Marshall Superintendent Klint Willert said.   "Encouraging collaboration among teachers, focusing on student achievement gains, and rewarding excellence all align to the values and the continuous improvement efforts of Marshall Public Schools.  We are proud that our teachers have overwhelmingly supported this concept in our district."

Marshall Public School District has three elementary schools, one junior high, one alternative school and one new high school (the former high school is being renovated to a middle school for next school year).  The district serves 2,434 students each school day.

Minneapolis, Hopkins, St. Francis, Mounds View, St. Cloud, Alexandria, Fridley and La Crescent-Hokah school districts are the other nine districts already participating in the Q Comp program.