Metro Looking to Memphis as Teacher Effectiveness Model

Some Metro officials are already starting to look at Memphis for guidance in teacher accountability, even before a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gets off the ground there. Members of the Metro Council’s Education Committee met with the head of the new Teacher Effectiveness Initiative Monday.

Three years from now, Memphis City Schools will start linking performance reviews to test scores and teacher pay. That effectively raises the bar on tenure decisions. Right now, 93% of teachers in Memphis gain the job security tenure provides. Once the plan takes effect, that number could drop off, says coordinator David Hill.

“The goal is to make tenure a more meaningful, significant milestone that has to be achieved.”

The Memphis plan contemplates three tiers – beginner, professional and master level. At the upper end, teachers could make as much as a six-figure salary.

Metro Councilman Bruce Stanley sits on the Education Committee and says Memphis should be a model.

“I think Metro Nashville would be excellent to use this as an example.”

Nashville doesn’t have the $90 million from the Gates Foundation to fund the additional salaries. But David Hill says there’s nothing to stop Metro Schools from adopting parts of the Memphis plan, now that the state legislature has required student test data be used in teacher evaluations.