Governor Tim Pawlenty and Education Commissioner Alice Seagren today announced that the Eden Prairie Public School District will implement Minnesota's nation-leading Q Comp performance and professional pay program.  Eden Prairie will be the 15th district in the state to participate and will receive $2,596,360 in state aid and local revenues for implementation in the 2006-07 school year.

"After parents, teachers are the biggest influence in the educational success of a child.  Q Comp helps us reward quality teaching by recognizing high performing teachers and providing meaningful professional development," Governor Pawlenty said.  "I commend the Eden Prairie school district, school board and its teachers for pursuing this important education reform."

Last year, Governor Pawlenty proposed and the state legislature approved Minnesota's Q Comp program.  Q Comp provides up to $86 million for districts that join the program over the next two 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. 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 Eden Prairie, the district administration and teachers representatives have agreed to the following:

• Career ladder and career advancement opportunities: The career ladder includes three positions, which require the lead teachers to maintain a primary role as a teacher with additional duties and compensations.   These positions are:
• Teacher Coach - Provides peer coaching and feedback for staff at all levels connected to each teacher's 14 standards selected for his/her Professional Learning Path (PLP).  This position will receive release time or extended time. 
• Teacher Observer - Provides peer observation and feedback relative to the selected PLP proficiencies for staff in all licensed areas. This position will receive release time or extended time. 
• Q Comp Department (or Cross-Discipline or Grade Level) Lead - Serves as the content specialist and coordinate training on specific content standards and proven instructional strategies related to the team's student achievement goal. This position will receive release time and a financial stipend. 
• Job-embedded professional development: School sites within the district will focus efforts in this area on improving achievement in reading based on the NWEA and/or MCA standardized assessments.  There will be three types of teams at each level:  a Q Comp Team, a grade level Q Comp team, and a PLC (Professional Learning Community) team. 
• Performance pay: A teacher's compensation will be based on the following factors:
  $2,500 performance award is based on achieving proficiency in 14 standards linked to the five domains of the PLP. 
• $200 for student achievement gains using the PLP performance goal and standardized test scores on the MCA, NWEA, ACT, PLAN and EXPLORE, as well as student grades and classroom assessments.
• $100 per teacher site award for each site that achieves its student achievement goal on the standardized assessment (MCA, NWEA, ACT, PLAN and/or EXPLORE)
• Comprehensive and objective teacher evaluation system: Each teacher will receive a minimum of three observations depending on the 14 PLP standards.  Formal observations will be conducted by the Observers.  Other observations may be completed by:  Coaches; Department, Team or Grade Level Leads; PLC facilitators; and mentors determined between these positions and the teachers/teams they work with.
• Alternative professional pay schedule: To transition to an alternative salary schedule for 2005-2006, all Eden Prairie teachers have written two goals.  In order to meet the intent of the law, the district has restructured the 2006/2007 salary schedule to a base pay of $33,193.00 with no teacher losing money and converting to Performance Increments in lieu of step increases.
   

"We are pleased Eden Prairie Schools has received approval to be a Q Comp school district," said Eden Prairie School District Superintendent Melissa Krull.  "The new plan, based on a teacher's demonstrated continuous improvement along with enhanced professional development, will lead to improved student achievement.  This plan will succeed because it has been a collaborative effort between the teachers association, school board, and district administration."

Eden Prairie Public School District is a K-12 school district serving students from pre-school through grade 12.  It includes five elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, and one high school.  They serve nearly 9,900 students in grades K-12 and employ 637 teaching staff.

Minneapolis, Hopkins, St. Francis, Mounds View, St. Cloud, Alexandria, Fridley, La Crescent-Hokah and Marshall started implementing the Q Comp program during the 2005-06 school year. Grand Meadow, Albert Lea, Alden-Conger, Brainerd, Wayzata and Eden Prairie school districts will begin implementing during the 2006-07 school year.  Approximately 134 school districts have indicated to the Department of Education they are planning to submit an application for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years.