shifts to the right and more teachers are included in the compensation. The objective is for all teachers to be highly effective. If districts choose to continue any practice that rewards teachers for teaching as usual, they undermine their intent to reward only effective teachers whose students perform. Big need requires big change. The legislature could continue its base pay increments: all teachers will receive some kind of annual raise until this practice, too, can be changed. Continuing policies that pay teachers for tenure only dilutes PBC as a reward for meeting high performance expectations and, more importantly, continues to reward ineffective teachers. Longer term, the number of teachers earning PBC rewards will grow beyond small percentages. The intended goal is to shift the distribution curve to the right as more and more teachers demonstrate stronger teaching competencies. When this happens, the average teacher is now highly effective and well engaged in PBC. New technologies, new teacher-student achievement models, and education breakthroughs will inevitably reshape the list of teaching competencies. When this happens, PBC will be ingrained in education culture, providing a valuable tool to reinforce new goals (Figlio & Lawrence, 2007).
Implementing PBC Systems The recommended PBC system includes two measurement components: a qualitative measure of teacher effectiveness and the quantitative measure of student achievement. The qualitative component is rolling out. Two important elements of the quantitative measure are not ready: (a) the value-added measurement tool that will actually calculate student achievement and (b) statewide assessment results based on the CCSS, the new student achievement baseline. With unavailable quantitative measures and the teacher appraisal process in motion, the recommendation for implementing PBC is to launch it in two steps. Initially, base PBC only on the qualitative measure, driving and reinforcing the critical teacher evaluation process. Acknowledging Mississippi’s documented underachievement; extrapolating the associated, significant competency gaps of too many teachers; forecasting the highly probable, negative student achievement decline associated with the CCSS; and recognizing educators’ belief that teachers drive student achievement, it behooves PBC planners to
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