Market Incentives
Overview
Market Incentives was one of the first components to be implemented, going into effect in the 2005-2006 contract year for the first ProComp members. The component enables DPS to offer a financial incentive to teachers and student services professionals (SSPs) who are willing and eligible to work in the most challenging schools in the district or in the staff positions that are most difficult to fill.
The Market Incentives component offers pay for two elements, hard-to-serve schools and hard-to-staff positions. Both elements are identified by a clear set of criteria established by the Transition Team. These criteria will be examined on an annual basis and may be revised and updated as needed. The exact positions and schools will be identified each year based on the established criteria.
Hard-to-Staff Positions
Purpose
The goal of this incentive is to attract and retain teachers and SSPs to fill the positions for which it is historically difficult to find highly qualified educators. This element gives teachers and student services professionals the opportunity to earn more money each year by choosing to work in these positions.
Criteria
Five criteria are used to identify the list of hard-to-staff positions each year. The positions are based on:
u National data on the supply of licensed professionals produced by degree granting institutions
u Regional data on the supply of licensed professionals produced by the degree granting institutions
u DPS data on the ratio of qualified teachers to total teachers in specific assignment areas and to the number of qualified teachers in the overall DPS work force
u Ratio of teachers with less than one year of experience to teachers in the total assignment area
u DPS data on special education and student services professionals
Positions
Hard-to-staff positions are named every year for a period of only one year, although positions may remain on the list if they continue to meet the prescribed criteria. Positions identified for the 2006-2007 school year are:
School Nurses
ELA-S teachers who are qualified and designated
Middle School Math (in a middle school assignment)
Special Ed Center Assignments
Speech Pathologists
Psychologists
MAST employees
Qualifying and Receiving Payment for Hard-to-Staff Positions
Hard-to-staff positions pay a 3% bonus of the ProComp index, and payments are made monthly in 12 equal amounts during the contract year. Educators may receive the incentive if they meet the following eligibility requirement:
u They must be qualified for their position as defined by Denver Public Schools and the Colorado Department of Education.
u They must be assigned in a position that is designated as hard-to-staff.
u Those who work part time in a hard-to-staff position will be paid for that time assigned in that hard-to-staff position.
Records To Document Work Eligible for Hard-to-Staff Pay
Payment of a hard-to-staff incentive must be based on a record of some type. Most DPS employees who are eligible can have their status verified through department records, payroll or other district databases, listed below. Those employees do not need to document their time to be compensated. Some employees who provide itinerant services must track their time in logs to establish their level of payment for hard-to-staff bonuses. Employees who must maintain a log are notified by their supervisor at the beginning of the school year. The following employees are documented by DPS systems:
u Qualified and designated ELA-S teachers are tracked by the ELA Department and reported electronically to payroll.
u Middle school math teachers are identified through Infinite Campus.
u Nurses, psychologists and speech language pathologists are identified through their job code and reported by the Special Education Department.
u Center program assignments for teachers are identified through Infinite Campus and reported to payroll by the Special Education Department.
u Center program assignments for student service professionals are identified through staff assignment lists (FTE) maintained by the Special Education Department and reported to payroll.
Note: This bonus is designed to address staff shortages in Special Education Center programs themselves. Teachers and SSPs who are assigned to a school or facility housing a Center program, but do not work in the Center program itself, do not qualify for the market incentive
Eligible Employees Not Documented by DPS Systems
Employees who are not documented through one of the above lists must complete an official log to record hours for which they are eligible to be paid. Employees who are not specifically assigned to the center, but actually do provide ongoing services to individual students in the center, can also track their service through logs to obtain the incentive.
Logs should be completed from written records maintained by the employee or those kept on the student. Only “continuous service” to a student over a period of time (not short term or random contacts) is eligible for market incentives payments. Examples of records that can be used to fill in the formal log include the following:
u Teaching-itinerant teacher records; employee calendars
u Long-term intervention-IEP records; caseload lists; employee calendars
u Routine periodic assessments-IEP records; caseload lists; employee calendars
Because these data sources are not centrally accessible, the employee must transcribe the time spent to the log for submission.
7.B Hard-to-Serve Schools
Purpose
The purpose of this element in ProComp is to attract and retain highly skilled professionals in the most challenging schools. Hard-to-serve schools are considered those whose student populations have special challenges.
The list of schools is identified each year based on criteria that is examined and updated. Schools that are designated hard to serve stay on the list at least three years, and the list is considered to be revolving. Each year, some schools may be renewed or extended, and others retain their original three-year designation. Those that are not renewed, however, finish their original three-year designation before dropping off the list.
Criteria
Five criteria are used to identify the hard-to-serve schools each year. They include:
u The percent of students enrolled in the school who are receiving free or reduced lunch
u The percent of students who are enrolled in special education center programs
u The percent of students who are identified as second language learners
u The percent of students who are eligible for Medicaid
u Crime data from the city of Denver associating students with their home neighborhood demographics
List of Hard-to-Serve Schools
The following list shows the year that the school was originally listed as hard to serve and the year that the term expires. The expiration date may change if a school is renewed for an additional three-year term.
Qualifying and Receiving Payment for Hard-to-Serve Schools
ProComp employees who work in a hard-to-serve school will receive a 3% bonus of the ProComp index, and payments are made monthly in 12 equal amounts during the contract year. Educators may receive the hard-to-serve incentive if they meet the following eligibility requirements:
u They must hold a current Colorado Department of Education license or TIR authorization.
u Qualifying employees must be assigned to work in the hard-to-serve school.
u Hard-to-serve payments are made as long as the school is recognized as hard to serve and as long as the employee remains in the designated school.
u Those who work only part time in a hard-to-serve school will be paid for that time actually spent working in that building.
Eligible Employees Documented by DPS Systems
Teachers are identified as working at a hard-to-serve school through Infinite Campus. Student services professionals assigned to hard-to-serve schools are recorded on staff lists that are tracked by the Special Education Department. These lists are submitted electronically to payroll.
Itinerant providers who serve students in multiple hard to serve schools must provide logs to be compensated because these contacts are not tracked by any department. These employees should contact their supervisor about the log.