FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark. — Gary Ritter, associate professor of
education and public policy at the University
of Arkansas, testified Friday
before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. As
part of a panel of educators, researchers and policy analysts, Ritter testified
on the need to provide greater financial rewards in order to recruit and retain
highly effective teachers, particularly in hard-to-staff subjects such as math
and science, as well as in high-poverty school districts.
Congress is
considering whether to re-authorize the federal No Child Left Behind Act. This
legislation includes the Teacher Incentive Fund, a plan that provides federal
grants to fund pay-for-performance compensation programs. Ritter has served as
a reviewer of TIF applications and most recently consulted on the proposed TIF
grant for the Rogers School
District that, if implemented, would bring
pay-for-performance to 10 Rogers
schools.
Ritter earned a doctorate
in education policy in 2000 from the University
of Pennsylvania. At the University
of Arkansas, his research interests
include program evaluation, school finance, volunteer tutoring programs,
standards-based and accountability-based school reform, racial segregation in
schools, and the impact of preschool care on school readiness. He led a team
that is evaluating a merit pay program in the Little
Rock School District
and issued a report in January on the first year of the program.
The study of the Little
Rock merit pay plan found it produced significant
gains in student performance on standardized tests and a more positive work
environment for teachers. The Achievement Challenge Pilot Project at
Meadowcliff and Wakefield
elementary schools offered bonuses to teachers and staff members that vary
based on the magnitude of increases in student achievement. Ritter also said at
the time that more research was needed to determine the overall effectiveness
of merit pay systems.
A link to video
of the hearing is available at http://edworkforce.house.gov/newsroom/multimedia.shtml.
Others who
testified Friday were Joel I. Klein, chancellor of the New York City Department
of Education; Jarvis T. Sanford, principal of Dodge Renaissance Academy in
Chicago; John D. Podesta, president and chief executive officer of the Center
for American Progress; Jack D. Dale, superintendent of Fairfax County (Va.)
Public Schools; Joseph P. Burke, superintendent of Springfield (Mass.) Public
Schools; Joan Bibeau, a teacher at Eagleview Elementary School in Squaw Lake,
Minn.; and Valdine McLean, a science teacher at Pershing County (Nev.) High
School.
Each witness offered an opening statement and
then responded to questions from the members of the House committee.