The Effects of Bonuses for Recruiting and Retaining Effective Teachers in High-Needs Schools in Denver

• In Event: Compensation, Race, and Burnout: Examining Drivers of Disparate Teacher Retention

Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of Denver Public Schools’ (DPS) High Priority Incentive (HPI) program. The HPI bonus pay system, initiated in 2015, was designed to recruit and retain effective teachers in some of Denver’s highest needs schools. The program was a major point of contention in Denver’s 2019 teacher strike. Exploiting the fact that HPI was implemented in a limited set of schools at a specific point in time, and that cutoff scores were used to determine whether teachers were deemed effective, we estimate its effects using several quasi-experimental methods including regression discontinuity, comparative interrupted time series, and teacher fixed-effects. Preliminary results suggest that the program resulted in increased retention of effective teachers in HPI schools.

Authors

• Allison C. Atteberry, University of Virginia

• Mimi Engel, University of Colorado Boulder

• Daniel J. Mangan, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Michelle Doughty, University of Colorado - Boulder