Student Achievement

District Uses Pay Incentives to Recruit Summer School Teachers

By Hannah Rose Sacks — June 06, 2012 1 min read
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Would you teach through the summer for the chance at $10,000? That’s what the Houston Independent School District is counting on.

In order to entice teachers to work during summer school sessions, HISD is offering teachers higher pay and the chance for up to $10,000 in bonuses if they help failing students pass Texas state exams, reports the Houston Chronicle.

Ninth graders took the new, tougher State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness this year. Students must now pass 15 end-of-course tests throughout high school in order to graduate. Seniors are still required to pass the previous exam, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

While the district does not yet know the number of students who failed the spring exams, reports of statewide poor performance has the district ready to respond.

HISD spokesman Jason Spencer told the Chronicle that while the board still needs to sign off on the plan, the administration considers the recruiting incentive an emergency.

The incentive plan is targeted at teachers who will work with 9th and 12th graders who failed exams this spring. Students will have the opportunity to retest in July.

Summer school teachers working with the target populations will earn $50 hourly compared to the $30 to $40 hourly rate summer school teachers teaching other grades will make. The bonuses, ranging from $150 to $250 per student who passes or improves a level on the July retest, could total as much as $10,000.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Beyond School blog.