Mobile County Public School Sysytem Transformed School Plan - Background

What is the Transformed School Plan and how did it come about?

In February, the Mobile County Board of School Commissioners adopted a plan that will completely transform the instructional programs and the entire certified and support staff in five of the school systems lowest-performing schools. This Transformed School Plan addresses the Boards belief that if the school system continues to do things the way its always done them, it will keep getting the results in these schools it has always got.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school systems across the country are trying to eliminate the achievement gap that exists between poor minorities and more affluent white students. Like MCPSS, these school systems are focusing on improving the quality of teaching in low-performing schools. The MCPSS Transformed School Plan is intended to attract quality teachers who are committed using new and dramatically different approaches in turning around underachieving schools, thus improving student learning and test scores.

Mobile County is the first school system in Alabama to offer an incentive program to attract these kinds of quality teachers to help students most in need.

What is the performance incentive program?

Under the plan, teachers will be paid a $4,000 signing bonus in September and could receive a $4,000 performance incentive at the end of each year, based on a performance evaluation and student success. A principal could get a total of $12,000, an assistant principal $9,000, and other professionals $8,000.

The second half of the bonus will be determined by student learning performance, based on the following results: 40% individual teacher performance; 10% grade or team performance; and 50% achieving or exceeding Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) goals.

MCPSS leaders estimate that they will spend $1.8 million in federal funds on bonuses intended as performance incentives for principals, assistant principals, and teachers.

What do I have to do qualify for bonuses?

Teachers currently working in another school can apply for positions at any of the Transformed Schools of their choice. Teachers currently assigned to the Transformed Schools in the 2003-2004 schoolyear may also re-apply to teach there. Principals and teachers, including counselors and media specialists, who are selected to fill certified positions in the Transformed Schools must make a commitment that they will remain at the school for a minimum of five years.

The entire faculty-including principals, hundreds of teachers and even cafeteria workers-at the five schools will have to re-apply for their positions in April and May, competing with other teachers who want to work at these schools. A committee of parents, business leaders, and school officials has reviewed all of the applicants for principal and assistant principal and has made a recommendation to the superintendent. The principal and assistant principal are charged with the responsibility to select the most qualified teachers and staff.

Principals, assistant principals, and teachers are eligible for performance pay incentives if they can demonstrate student achievement gains. However, if students in these Transformed Schools do not show Adequate Yearly Progress on state achievement scores, the Superintendent, with Board approval, can transfer individual principals, teachers, and other professional staff members from Transformed Schools to other schools in the system. An individual assigned to any of the Transformed Schools does not loose tenure by accepting a position.

What are the five Transformed School Schools and how did they get named?

Transformed School Schools were selected because they were most in need of help. Students in those schools scored the lowest in Mobile County on the Stanford Achievement Test last year. At least 97 percent of the students at each of the five schools are black and 90 percent are poor, according to information from the State Department of Education.

The schools are:

Brazier Elementary School, Grades K-5, District 3. Principal: Merrier Jackson
George Hall Elementary School. K-6, District 4. Principal: Terri Tomlinson
Calloway-Smith Middle School, 6-8, District 5. Douglas July, Principal: TBD
Mae Eanes Middle School. 6-8, District 4. Principal: Aaron Guyton
Mobile County Training Middle School. 6-8, District 3. Principal:
How were principals chosen? Who are the principals and what are their backgrounds?

Principals were chosen primarily for their leadership philosophy that the academic success of students depends on the quality of teaching these students receive. Principals of these schools were chosen for their belief that a radically different approach to instruction and teaching is the key to making dramatic changes in schools.

In short, these principals believe that teaching is the most important factor in a childs education.

What special support will these five Transformed Schools receive?

Besides the $1.8 million in performance bonuses for individual principals, assistant principals and teachers, another $3.4 million will be used to buy textbooks and other supplies for students, as well as extra training for teachers.

Extra summer training for teachers will provide compensation beyond the Performance Incentive Awards. Additionally, all Transformed Schools, regardless of size, will be assigned an assistant principal and an achievement specialist. Other additional staff assignments include teacher coaches for reading, writing, and mathematics.

Why should I leave my current school to join this effort?

The MCPSS Transformed School Plan is an extraordinary opportunity
for teachers to:
Help more students achieve at higher levels and improve their chances
for success in life.
Work with principals who believe in teaching and teachers.
Work in an environment focused on studentand adultlearning
Showcase effective practicefor other Mobile County public schools,
the state of Alabama and the nation.
Work in teams with some of the best and brightest principals and teachers
in the Mobile County Public School System.
Earn extra incentive pay that is not available in any other
Mobile County Public School.
Get access to the nations best research, data, and professional developmentall intended to support improvements in the quality of your own teaching.
Use data to determine exactly which students, in which grades and which classes, need extra help in order to meet grade-level requirements.
Make a differencefor students, the school system, and the Mobile County community.