More Schools Join State Teacher Reform Program

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Seven school districts and 23 charter schools are joining Minnesota's alternative system for evaluating and paying teachers -- the signature education initiative under Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who leaves office next month.

Pawlenty on Wednesday announced the largest one-year expansion of the Q Comp program since it began in 2006. With the addition of the new schools next year, nearly a third of Minnesota students will be taught by a teacher in the program.

Also, the Minnesota Department of Education has begun uploading state-approved lessons for teachers and preschool through high school students to the iTunes web site in collaboration with Apple Inc., Pawlenty said.

Districts participating in the Q Comp program receive an additional $260 per student in state aid and additional levy authority. The seven districts and 23 charter schools will get about an extra $4 million combined.

In exchange for the money, Q Comp schools agree to a system of professional development and evaluation for teachers that emphasizes teachers evaluating each other. It also links teacher pay to the test scores of their students.

There are now 51 school districts and 54 charter schools participating in the program, including some of the largest metro-area districts.

When the legislative auditor reported on the program in February 2009, it concluded that the program's effect on student achievement couldn't be adequately measured at that time. It also found that administrators generally liked the program better than teachers.

On the other hand, an analysis done at the same time by a firm hired by the state Department of Education found improvements in student achievement could be linked to the number of years a school had participated in Q Comp.

The Republican governor expressed confidence Q Comp would continue even after he leaves office, with Republicans taking control of the Minnesota House and Senate. He also said many state have changed how teachers are evaluated and paid since Q Comp began.

"The whole nation is going this way," Pawlenty said. "There's no turning back now."

Reforms along the lines of Q Comp were also encouraged by President Barack Obama's administration in its $3.4 billion "Race to the Top" competitive grant program. Minnesota wasn't awarded any money in the program, partly due to opposition from the state teachers union.

Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said there wasn't a push to sign up more schools before Pawlenty leaves office in January. She said about six districts have applications pending, including one from the state's largest district, Anoka-Hennepin. Money has been set aside to fund those programs, she said.

However, Seagren said her department had sought to sign up more rural districts. The Ely district in far northern Minnesota was one of the districts announced Wednesday.

Ely Superintendent Don Langan said he used the program when he was superintendent of International Falls from 2004 to December 2009 and "saw nothing but extremely positive results in many areas."

So he brought it to his new district with hopes that he will see the same results, primarily from the program's focus on using experienced, successful teachers to monitor their newer colleagues and encouraging teachers of similar subjects to collaborate.

"The level of professional dialogue that occurs as a direct result of that program is amazing," he said.

Teachers like the idea of getting more feedback from other teachers, even if they are wary of having their compensation tied to student test scores, said Julie Blaha, president of the Anoka-Hennepin chapter of Education Minnesota, the teachers union.

Blaha has been working with district administrators on the Anoka-Hennepin Q Comp application. She said teachers would be evaluated three times a year by other teachers, including at least once by a teacher in the same subject area. Blaha, a longtime math teacher, said she had never been evaluated by another math teacher.

"When I get good feedback, it makes me a better teacher," she said.

The district's application is pending before the state. If approved, it must be ratified by both the school district and the union membership.

Pawlenty said the state's new presence on iTunes was part of a broader trend of moving more teaching and learning on-line. Students will be able to look up information on concepts that are giving them trouble. Teachers can find more information about the lessons they are presenting.

Karen Klinzing, deputy commissioner at the Department of Education, said the department will upload the files submitted by educators or students after making sure they meet the state's academic standards and are appropriate for an audience of children and teens.

She said the state had uploaded about 700 files to the site, from algebra lessons to a behind-the-scenes look the Minnesota Zoo. All the files are free and available all the time, she said.

Klinzing said she expected the offerings to grow and change in the future.

"The next administration will decide how to use it, how to augment the site," she said.

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