Wednesday, September 26, 2001
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Wednesday, September 26, 2001 |
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Three schools win Pay for Performance awards
After collecting mounds of data from teachers throughout the 2000-2001 academic year and compiling it into a report that resembled a small novel, two elementary schools and one middle school are now reaping the rewards of Pay for Performance. East Fayette Elementary, Peachtree City Elementary and Rising Starr Middle Schools have been awarded PfP for a third, second and first time, respectively. East Fayette will receive $96,000, Peachtree City $80,000 and Rising Starr $180,000. The dollar figure is based on the number of certified personnel the schools had on staff last year when they applied to participate in PfP. East Fayette is the only school in the county to receive PfP three times. The school is also the only one in Fayette to be approved to participate in the program for a fourth time this year. "Pay for Performance is truly wonderful. It pulls us together as a family and we all work as a team to achieve our performance goals," said Faith Hardnett, principal at East Fayette. "The teachers are thrilled to know that we won again. It is a good morale booster for the school. We already have good morale at East Fayette but knowing that we won again makes it even better." Hardnett says the bulk of the money the school won will be distributed to all teachers and staff members. As a rule of PfP, certified personnel employed during the implementation year must determine by consensus how the award will be spent. Hardnett says the school will also look at its technology budget and may use some of the money it won to help purchase a PowerPoint projector and software for students. Like East Fayette, Peachtree City Elementary is proud of its teachers and staff for all of the hard work they put into meeting PfP objectives last year. Out of 20 goals that the school had outlined and submitted to the PfP program, only four were not achieved. The school will also distribute its winnings to every employee. School officials decided to surprise teachers with the news during a recent faculty meeting. Each teacher was handed a sealed envelope and was told that it contained a door prize. At the end of the meeting, teachers were instructed to open their envelopes where they found a note that read, "We did it." "Everyone was asking, 'What did we do?'" said assistant Principal Bonnie Hancock. "After letting them wonder about it for a few minutes we shouted, 'We got Pay for Performance!' Everyone was so excited." Rising Starr Middle made history with its win by becoming the first secondary school in the county to receive a PfP award. Principal Barbara Bakelaar says the money will be distributed to every employee in the school and that a portion of the award might be set aside to help purchase equipment or fund projects. "It's just so incredible. The students and staff have worked so very hard. They are the ones that really deserve this," said Bakelaar. Rising Starr was the last school in the county to learn it had received the award. The delay was because some of its performance objectives were tied to students' test score performance. The PfP program could not a make decision regarding the school's award until all test scores had been examined. "Rising Starr's test scores were some of the most impressive that we have seen," said Marion Dabney, Ph.D., who oversees the PfP program for the state Board of Education. "We are absolutely delighted to give this award to the school." Winning PfP is no easy feat. To attain a PfP award, a school must identify and subsequently meet a comprehensive set of exemplary performance objectives. Performance objectives must be developed in four categories: academic achievement, client involvement, educational programming and resource development. Schools with approved applications to participate in the program have a school year to achieve the performance objectives. At the end of the school year, a final report must be submitted which documents the status for each performance objective in the approved application. Not every school that gets approved to participate in PfP ends up winning the award. Each performance objective is given a weight and to receive an award, at least 80 percent of the total weights in the approved application must be successfully achieved. "I want to offer my congratulations to the schools in Fayette County. I can't thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to their students," said Dabney. Schools receiving approved applications to participate in PfP for the 2001-2002 academic year are East Fayette Elementary, Fayette Middle, Flat Rock Middle and Rising Starr Middle Schools. The PfP program provides a group incentive award to schools that demonstrate exemplary performance and collaboration. The program is open to all K-12 public schools in Georgia. PfP awards are made to schools rather than to individuals. The program is conducted in accordance with state law and State Board of Education rule.
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