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Thank you Eagle County Voters!

Eagle County Schools would like to thank all of the Voters in Eagle County who supported the 3B Bond that recently passed. This bond will ensure ‘Great Schools, East to West.’ The passage of this initiative will address necessary technology upgrades and renovations to existing buildings, and will also go towards the purchase of additional land on the west end of our valley for future schools. The bond also includes the construction of new buildings in order to accommodate the anticipated, steady growth up and down the valley. The $128 million Bond will be used on the following projects:

• Replace Battle Mountain High School (design process to begin January 2007; construction to begin June 2007 and conclude September 2009)

• Remodel Eagle Valley High School (construction to begin June 2007 and conclude February 2008)

• Facility repair projects (construction to begin May 2007 and conclude December 2007)

• New Elementary School (construction to begin May 2007 and conclude August 2008)

• Technology infrastructure projects

• Purchase of land on the west end

• Existing Battle Mountain renovation (construction to begin May 2009 and conclude January 2010)

ECS receives a $6.7 million federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant to increase compensation for outstanding educators

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that Eagle County Schools was awarded a $6.7 million Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant to provide financial incentives to teachers who improve student achievement in high-poverty schools. The grant is expected to be funded over a 5-year period.

The Teacher Incentive Fund grant was announced by Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education and presented to the Eagle County Schools Board of Education by Pat Chlouber, the U.S. Department of Education Secretary’s Regional Representative, at the Eagle County Schools district offices in Eagle. “Nothing helps a child learn as much as a great teacher – and research shows that rewarding teachers for results can improve student performance,” Spellings said.

Funded for the first time in 2006, the TIF program is President Bush’s initiative to develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need, disadvantaged schools, where at least 30 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The goals of the program are to improve student achievement by increasing the effectiveness of principals and teachers, and, at the same time, increase the number of effective teachers for minority and disadvantaged students. The award in Eagle County is 1 of 16, and the total of all awards was $42.1 million nation-wide.

Excellent teachers make the difference!

After changing her major several times in college, Eagle Valley Elementary School teacher Debbie Vernell decided Elementary Education was the focus she was destined to pursue…and lucky for Eagle County Schools she did just that. After 20 years of working at the same cozy location in Eagle, Debbie attributes her eternal love of teaching to ensuring children succeed, ECS’ integrated curriculum and the phenomenal teaching staff at EVES.

Upon graduating from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1971, Debbie and her new husband moved to Colorado in pursuit of new personal and professional adventures. Before embarking on her teaching career, Debbie worked in and out of the hotel industry and as a stay at home mom with her three girls. Although she was originally hired to teach a class of 6 kindergarteners in McCoy, Eagle Valley Elementary School Principal John Reimers at the time persuaded her to pursue an alternative teaching opportunity right here in Eagle. Fortunately, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse and in 1986, Debbie made her ECS debut.

After going back to school to receive her Master’s Degree in Reading, working as a Literacy Coach, teaching solely Kindergarten for one year and instructing only first grade for 5 years, Debbie is beginning her 15th year of what she refers to as “looping” with her first and second graders at EVES. Basically, Debbie teaches first graders one year, educates the same class in second grade the following year, and returns to teaching a brand new first grade class upon completion of her two-year cycle. “This two-year cycle is all about developing relationships with the children and their parents,” states Debbie. “Students at an elementary level make great strides when they can count on a familiar face at the front of the classroom. The first two years of a child’s education entail a unique combination of management and hands-on teaching.”

Debbie believes an essential ingredient in her successful teaching style is helping children realize the relevance of school subjects in their own lives. Not only does this make learning more fun and exciting for the students, discovering this ‘significance’ factor in turn motivates them to learn. Debbie’s theory is that consistently encouraging children to make these connections will help them become more well-rounded individuals, as well as spark their curiosity about different topics in and out of the classroom.

As the only teacher involved in the “looping” process at Eagle Valley Elementary School at the present time, Debbie is very excited about the outstanding leadership team this year. Mentor Teacher Theresa Carullo has recently been hired to “loop” with Debbie and will be moving to first grade next year, allowing Debbie to jump to second with her current students. The concerted efforts of Principal Monica Lammers, Mentor Teacher Theresa Carullo and Master Teacher Liz Karr are evident and clearly influencing teachers like Mrs. Vernell to remain passionate about teaching at EVES. “They all work really hard to make everything meaningful and relevant to each and every educator,” states Debbie. “There is no longer a disjointed feeling in the air.”

EVES Principal Monica Lammers, who has known Debbie for eight years, states, “We go way back to our Literacy Coaching days when we blazed the trail for teacher leaders in this building. Debbie has always been a great colleague because she is wise with experience as well as innovative and progressive with ideas. I have always learned a great deal from Debbie about primary literacy, which is most definitely her forte. Students, teachers, and parents all have a high level of respect for her. She embraces a true workshop philosophy in reading and writing instruction, allowing her time to really reach out to each individual in her room.”

In addition to teaching at EVES, Debbie worked as a Facilitator for the Accelerated Reading Program for eight years, which is a curriculum that reaches at-risk students in first grade who are not quite where they need to be in reading and writing. She also assisted the highly regarded ‘Love and Logic’ program for several years. Even with all of the success under her belt, this over-achiever doesn’t see an ending to her teaching career in the very near future. In fact, while many of her friends are discussing retiring soon, Debbie’s idea of a permanent leave of absence couldn’t be further from the ordinary…she hopes to continue teaching part-time. Looks like Debbie is in for the long run and ECS couldn’t be happier!

Pay for Performance Awards for Teachers

This is the fourth in a 4-part series of articles about Eagle County Schools’ on-going efforts to have a highly qualified and well-trained teacher in every classroom, everyday. This fall marks the fifth year of implementation of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), a school reform effort which is designed to increase student performance through effective classroom instruction.

TAP is comprised of four key elements, and each of these elements has been highlighted from August through November.

1. Multiple Career Paths (August)

2. Ongoing, Applied Professional Growth (September)

3. Instructionally-Focused Accountability (October)

4. Performance-Based Compensation (November/December)

Financially Rewarding Top Teachers

Teacher compensation in Eagle County Schools is based on both performance in the classroom and financially rewarding top teachers. Teachers who qualify for a performance award are paid a lump sum bonus on their final check of the contract year based on the previous year’s performance. Depending on Colorado state funding for K-12 education, that bonus (or a portion of it) is then added to the teacher’s salary for the following school year. The current maximum award available to each teacher is $2,600.

Performance awards are determined by:

• 50 percent earned through teacher skills & knowledge demonstrated by the teacher’s earned evaluation score, with a maximum possible award of $1,300.
• 25 percent earned through individual student achievement demonstrated by Northwest Evaluation Assessment (NWEA) value-added growth, with a maximum possible award of $650.
• 25 percent earned through school-wide achievement demonstrated by CSAP value-added growth, with a maximum possible award of $650.
  

How do teachers receive pay for their evaluation scores?

Every teacher is evaluated four times during the year using a performance appraisal with a scale of 1 to 5. Our October newsletter provides more information about this process and can be viewed at www.eagleschools.net. Two of these evaluations are scheduled and two are unannounced. Principal evaluations are weighted at 50 percent, Master Teacher evaluations at 25 percent and Mentor Teacher evaluations at 25 percent. A teacher can earn a maximum of $1,300 based on their evaluation scores.

What is value-added growth?

Value-added analysis uses a statistical methodology to measure the academic gain or “value-added” for a student or group of students above a predicted target over a specific period of time. Based on past performance, “value-added” predicts what score students should be getting if they continue on the same path.

Individual Student Achievement Awards: Classroom teachers of reading, writing and math in grades 3 through 8 are currently eligible to receive the individual student achievement (NWEA) award. Students must be in a teacher’s classroom for a minimum of 138 days in order to contribute to the teacher’s value-added growth award. The greater the achievement gain, the larger the bonus, up to a maximum award of $650. If a teacher is not eligible for the individual classroom award, they receive 25 percent of their performance award based on the average pay-out of the teachers in their building.

School-Wide Achievement Awards: Bonuses of up to $650 are based on value-added growth of the entire school as demonstrated by CSAP scores. Additionally, high school teachers do not receive individual student achievement awards, so 50 percent of their award is based on school-wide achievement.

 

Teachers with above average performance and student achievement make more than they would in other similar districts.

One of the reasons Eagle County Schools moved to a performance-based compensation program is to ensure that our top teachers can maximize their earning potential. The high cost of living in our community coupled with the low level of education funding in Colorado makes it difficult to retain teachers.

Under the last lock-step salary schedule in Eagle County (2004-05), each teacher, regardless of their performance, received an increase in pay that ranged from $683 to $881. Placement on the schedule was based on years of experience and levels of education. Now, teachers can receive up to $2,600 each year based on performance, in addition to a potential bonus.

The examples below are based on actual teachers. They all demonstrated above average performance based on their evaluation scores and the achievement growth attained by their students.

Compensation for a 1st year teacher with a BA and above average performance:

	Eagle County	Roaring Fork
2005-2006 Base Salary	$35,932	$33,200
2005-2006 Performance Bonus	$1,234	-----
2005-2006 Master/Mentor Stipend	-----	-----
2005-2006 Total Compensation	$37,166	$33,200
Percentage +/-		-12%

Compensation for a 10-year teacher with a MA and above average performance:

	Eagle County	Roaring Fork
2005-2006 Base Salary	$43,984	$33,200
2005-2006 Performance Bonus	$2,093	-----
2005-2006 Master/Mentor Stipend	-----	-----
2005-2006 Total Compensation	$46,077	$45,245
Percentage +/-		-2%

Compensation for a 21-year teacher with a MA+12, above average performance and a Mentor Teacher stipend:

	Eagle County	Roaring Fork
2005-2006 Base Salary	$57,497	$55,120
2005-2006 Performance Bonus	$1,928	-----
2005-2006 Master/Mentor Stipend	$3,000	-----
2005-2006 Total Compensation	$62,425	$55,120
Percentage +/-		-13%

This compensation comparison is made to Roaring Fork School District (Glenwood Springs) because, of all districts in the state, they are most similar to Eagle County in terms of their student enrollment, percentage of students living in poverty, percentage of students who are English language learners and high cost of living. As you can see, our top performers earn more than the same teacher would in our neighboring community.

Outstanding teachers in Eagle County can increase their compensation at a more rapid rate than if the total salary pool was divided equally among all. Teachers also have an opportunity to earn other one-time bonuses or salary increases:

• $2,500 will be added to the teacher’s salary if they achieve National Board Certification.
• $2,500 will be awarded as a one-time bonus to teachers with 36 graduate credits or an advanced degree in the high priority areas of reading, writing, math, special education, ELA or science.
  

More bonus opportunities will be available to high performing teachers with the implementation of the $6.7 million Teacher Incentive Fund grant awarded to Eagle County Schools in October.

Q&A

What is a lock-step salary schedule?

The lock-step salary schedule provides each teacher with an annual increase in salary based on their years of experience and the level of education they have attained. Under this system, all teachers, regardless of performance levels, receive the same level of compensation.

Do some teachers make less money now than they would under the old system?

Under the last lock-step salary schedule, teachers in Eagle County received annual increases that ranged from $683 to $881. It is possible for a teacher to make less than this if their evaluation scores are low and their students have not achieved their individual growth targets. In 2005-06, the average performance award, and subsequent salary increase was $1,271. The range of awards was from $651 to $2,166.

How much more are teachers making?

In a study of the first five of our TAP schools, career teachers who were meeting student growth and evaluation expectations were making on average 9 percent more than under the lock step schedule when bonus and salary increases were included in the calculations. On average, the highest performers were making 11 percent more.

How do teachers feel about performance-based compensation?

Basing compensation solely on performance has been the most controversial aspect of our Teacher Advancement Program. Some teachers resist the system and find the change difficult to adjust to. Other teachers embrace it. Some of the comments we’ve heard include:

“I’m making much more money than I was on the old system and I am happy that I’m being rewarded for being an effective teacher.”

Elementary teacher, 11 years of experience

“I have no problem with being attached to my kids’ NWEA scores. I’m very confident in the growth I will be able to achieve with my kids.”

1st year Elementary teacher

“I absolutely believe that performance should be attached to pay. Pay should be based on how effective you are.”

Elementary teacher, 20 plus years of experience

Celebrating Academic Success

National Merit Scholarship - Christopher Woodruff

Battle Mountain High School is pleased to recognize one scholastically talented high school student who has been recognized by the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program. Christopher Woodruff received a letter of commendation based on his scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying test. Only the top 2 % of the 1.4 million students who took the PSAT test in October of 2005 receive this recognition or higher. We congratulate the accomplishment of this incredibly talented student!

AP Scholars with Distinction

AP Scholar with Distinction is granted to students who receive an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams on full-year courses (or the equivalent).

BMHS ‘06 Graduates: Walker Loetscher - 6 exams (Georgetown), Josie John - 6 exams (Columbia University).

AP Scholars with Honors

AP Scholar with Honors is granted to students who receive an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams on full-year courses (or the equivalent).

BMHS 12th graders: Briana Barker, Megan O’Rourke, Nicole Penwill, Chris Woodruff.

BMHS ‘06 Graduate: Riley Pack (CU).

AP Scholars

The award of AP Scholar is granted to students who receive grades of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams on full-year courses (or the equivalent).

BMHS 12th grader: Sydney Nichols.

BMHS ‘06 Graduates: Lauren Agett (CU), Brittany Bingham (DU), Anthony Guida (Furman), Morgen Stern (U of Southern Cal), Leslie Peterson (CSU), Kate VanHee (Southern Methodist U), Emily Wray (CSU).

EVHS ‘06 Graduates: Will James (Middlebury), Cassidy Warner (DU).

Celebrating Athletic Success

BMHS Girls Volleyball – First Place, 4A State Title

12th Graders: Britney Brown (Captain), Crystin Rodrick (Captain), Nicole Penwill, Sofia Lindroth, Sydney Nichols, Kimberley Corwin (Manager), Allie O’Connor, Kendra Havlik, Sarah Simmonds

11th Graders: Devon Abbott, Kori Landauer, Jennifer Thul, Annie Marcum, Alexa Corcoran

Coach: Brian Doyon

BMHS Boys Cross Country – First Place, 4A State Title

Runners: Jonny Stevens (BMHS), Tony Crisofulli (BMHS), Jamie Farhmeyer (EVHS), Colt Nelson (EVHS), Mario Gonzalez (BMHS), Ryan Walker (BMHS), John O’Neill (BMHS), Lorenzo Macias (BMHS), Griffin Turnipseed (EVHS), Michael Hand (BMHS)

Coaches: Rob Parish and Kelli Witter

BMHS Girls Cross Country

Seventh Place in State

BMHS and EVHS Boys Soccer

4A State Quarterfinalists (BMHS)

Western Slope Title (BMHS)

First Round Playoffs (EVHS)

EVHS Boys Golf

Jamison Bair, State Qualifier