Frequently Asked Questions

Measuring and rewarding teacher excellence is complex and, potentially, a politically charged issue. We are committed to sharing information in a thorough and clear manner. Here are some frequently asked questions about this program. We will continue to update this FAQ as new questions are posed. If you have a question that is not answered below, please feel free to send an e-mail to peak@fwisd.org.

How can I get a copy of the PowerPoint presentation on Recommitment Schools?
The PEAK PowerPoint presentations for Recommitment and Retention schools are on the District Web site and may be downloaded.

I plan to retire after the 08-09 school year. What should I do?
You will not be penalized for leaving a PEAK school because of retirement. Quality teachers are appreciated no matter where they are in their career timeline.

Will the school day be extended in PEAK schools? What are the expectations of teachers after school?
No. The working day for PEAK teachers will be not be an extended one.
By recommitment we are asking you to do literally that – recommit your time, your energy and your passion to this school. Sometimes, that will mean an extra day of professional development for which you will be compensated at the daily rate, a longer day or an (occasional) working Saturday.
This isn’t going to be easy. We have no illusions about that and we know you don’t either. We’re asking kids to do tough things, and we’re asking our teachers to do tough things, too.
However, we are not asking our teachers to work extended hours or weekends as a matter of routine or a condition of employment. And, we feel strongly any time invested in a PEAK school will reap precious rewards.

Will PEAK schools have 9th and 10th grade academic teaming?
Yes. PEAK will not take the place of the other positive initiatives we’ve put in place. In fact, the principles of PEAK are complementary to our teaming work. Teaching is a team sport.

How will FWISD administrators use the Haberman Screener to make decisions about who teaches at PEAK schools?
The Haberman Screener is designed specifically to determine the probability of a teacher’s success in an urban school environment.

I’m working on an advanced degree. Will the PEAK Commitment work on my ability to attain my advanced degree? Will it interfere with my academic commitment to the university I’m attending?
We hope it will not. It would not be our intent to impede our teachers as they work toward advanced degrees. However, this should be discussed with the principal of the PEAK school.

Will the District develop a message for parents about PEAK?
Yes. Because it most nearly affects their professional lives, we chose to share the PEAK initiative first with our teachers. But there are plans underway to communicate the aspirations and mission of PEAK with parents, students and the communities the PEAK schools serve. The first such community meeting on PEAK will take place on March 27 at Dunbar High School for the parents, students and interested community members who support Dunbar HS, Dunbar MS or Sunrise-McMillian ES.

If I’m on a probationary contract, am I assured a job for next year?
The PEAK hiring process has no impact on your contractual status.

If I’m not selected to be a PEAK teacher, will I lose my job? What if I attend the other job fairs in May and June and I’m not hired? Does the District consider me to be a “failure”? Should I rethink my vocation as a teacher?

First, if for some reason, you are not chosen for recommitment to a PEAK school or you express a decision not to participate, you won’t be penalized. You are not going to lose your job. You will have a position with the school District and you will be placed administratively prior to the beginning of school.

If I’m currently working at another school in the Fort Worth ISD, may I apply for a position with one of the PEAK schools?
Yes. You may apply to teach at any of the PEAK schools.

Will these earnings be taxed?
Yes. These earnings will be taxed at the normal rate.

Will the incentives and rewards be considered compensation for TRS retirement purposes?
The incentives are TRS eligible. We are currently seeking advice from TRS on the status of the rewards.

Is the incentive a onetime deal or an annual payment?
The incentive is an annual award for the three years of the program.

Will you consider improving classroom aesthetic conditions? Will you fix air and heat conditions at PEAK schools?
We mean to improve working conditions at PEAK schools in as many ways as we can find to do so – and that could include improving the aesthetics and the comfort level of the physical facility. Additionally, much of this will be addressed through the current Capital Improvement Program.

We’ve received some great feedback since we announced the PEAK project. In response to your questions, we’ve answered these FAQ.

What do you mean by “improved work environment” at PEAK schools?
PEAK schools will offer many pluses for the educators who work in them. Among the improved conditions will be: an additional five (5) contract days at the daily rate, additional clerical support for teachers, structured mentoring, master teacher coaches for new teachers.

And, those conditions could include campus test coordinators/data managers and additional instructional support for each content area.

What are the criteria for picking schools?
We looked at criteria in two ways. As we chose the PEAK incentive and rewards schools, we looked for a history of poor academic performance, demographics, unequal distribution of experienced teachers and a trend of high teacher turnover.

As we chose the PEAK rewards schools, we again looked at trends indicating a past performance of low levels of academic achievement but had recently shown momentum in improvement. We acknowledge there are many schools that fit these criteria. However, given one of our guiding principles to start small, we focused on our most critical needs schools for the pilot.

What is this recommitment process? How will it work? Isn’t this just a fancy word for reconstitution?
Reconstitution implies the complete removal of existing staff. This isn’t what we’re doing. We’re confident that great teaching and committed staff exist in every one of our schools. A recommitment offers a mutual opportunity to choose to be a part of the PEAK program. Additionally, a focus on recommitment allows the campus a fresh start on building a powerful and mutually accountable team. That team focus will be on dramatically increasing student achievement.

All teachers, both those currently employed by the District and others outside of our District, have an opportunity to apply to teach at the PEAK schools.

If PEAK teachers earn more money, why would any teacher NOT want to be a part of this pilot program?
This work will be groundbreaking and require an extreme commitment and investment to the students, the work, and the team of educators. Colleagues will hold each other accountable while building support, trust and collaboration to an unprecedented degree. These expectations may not be right for everyone.

If the teacher leaves the District after one year, will he or she still receive the rewards?
The teacher will receive the rewards for the work done in the year he or she participated.

What is the PEAK Rewards Program?
PEAK stands for Public Educators Accelerating Kids. It’s a pilot program to provide financial rewards and incentives for Fort Worth ISD educators who show exceptional ability to improve student achievement growth.

What is being piloted?
This pilot program will take advantage of an opportunity to provide incentives and rewards in recognition of excellent teams and educators for their ability to accelerate student success.

When will this pilot initiative be implemented in the Fort Worth ISD?
If all goes according to plan, the pilot will commence with the 2008-2009 school year. There’s been
task force working on this effort to develop a draft design and approach.

Who is involved in developing this idea?
We’ve assembled a task force that includes teachers, principals, administrators, and representatives of the UEA, FWEA and others.

We would like to continue to solicit feedback and design ideas in a variety of ways. There are several information sessions scheduled, and all comments and questions are welcomed to peak@fwisd.org.

Why is this being approached as a team concept?
“Teaching is a team sport,” says Dr. Melody Johnson. “In fact, my basic philosophy is that teachers must work together in order to find the greatest success.” Many of the District’s investments over the last few years have been focused on this idea – from academic teaming at the secondary level, lead content teachers and cluster coaches to the IFL principles of learning. As one of the guiding principles indicate, “Our students will benefit the most when teachers are supported, enabled and recognized for their ability to effectively collaborate, coach and grow in their craft.” We believe that is true and thus our focus is on rewarding excellent teams of educators.

Which schools will participate?
As this is a pilot program, we wanted to start small and potentially evolve the program as we learn what works. There will be two types of pilots:

Piloting incentives to attract high quality teachers to some of our hard to staff schools. These schools will also be a part of the pilot for rewards program.
Piloting a set of schools that only participate in the rewards program.

Although the list of pilot schools has not been confirmed, our initial plan is to include 10-15 campuses across these two types of pilots. Criteria have been determined for a potential list of schools for each pilot type and final selections will be made from there.

What criteria will be used to select campuses?
We will choose schools where it is critically important to accelerate student academic growth.

Will a teacher at an identified potential pilot school have to participate?
We want everyone to have a voice in this process. We will have an “opt in” vote at campuses selected as pilots.

How will this initiative be funded?
The initiative is being funded through the DATE grant, a state funded $147.5M program that will reward some Texas teachers who work in the most challenging situations. Participating school districts will split the money. As of this writing, about half of the state’s school districts have decided to participate. However, all of the large districts, including the big urban districts, have expressed a desire to take part.

Will the TEEG and GEEG grant money be redirected to this project?
No. Most of the TEEG and GEEG programs are already under way (TEEG Cycles 1 and 2 and GEEG). Those are existing campus based initiatives, and they will continue independent of the PEAK program.

There is one campus based TEEG grant program, which is currently under development at ten campuses in Fort Worth ISD for the 2008-09 school year (TEEG Cycle 3). Those schools participating, if they wish, may use components of the PEAK program, but they are not required to.

What does “value-added” at the campus level mean?
In this pilot program, aggregated individual student scores will provide a measure of campus and/or team growth and all of the teachers at individual campuses may share in the reward to some degree.

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