The Teacher Incentive Allotment: Measuring Teacher Buy-In for Texas' Pay-for-Performance Program

• In Event: Managing Human and Organizational Capital

Abstract

Teacher buy-in is a critical component of any appraisal system, and it is likely to be important for pay-for-performance systems as well. The purpose of this study was to report on the instrument development intended to measure teacher buy-in for district-develop designation plans associated with Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), a state-level pay-for-performance system. We used modern test theory to investigate the psychometric properties of the instrument. The results suggest satisfactory reliability of the instrument in a sample of eligible teachers and adequate discriminant validity in measuring distinct but related aspects of teachers’ buy-in of the TIA program and districts’ TIA plan. The findings contribute to an under-developed area of policy research related to buy-in to pay-for performance programs.

Authors

• Jaehoon Lee, Texas Tech University

• Doug D. Hamman, Texas Tech University

• Michael Strong, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Yifang Zeng, Texas Tech University