Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) is among 62 applicants from 27 states to win the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant competition. The USDOE is providing the first two years of funding — a total of $422 million — of a five-year $1.2 billion program that seeks to strengthen the education profession by rewarding excellence, and attracting teachers and principals to high-need and hard-to-staff areas.
M-DCPS’ award for the five-year program is $10 million. The grant will be used to develop and implement a performance- based compensation system — CORE Initiative: Creating Opportunities to Reward Educators — in eight high-need elementary schools serving grades K-5. It will enable the schools to recruit, reward, and retain highly effective teachers and administrators who are needed to engage and teach their students to succeed despite the many challenges they face.
The project will serve as a catalyst for change in these schools, supporting a culture of continuous improvement that will lead to increased teacher effectiveness and student achievement.
This year’s winning applicants were selected by a group of 60 independent, expert peer reviewers. They were judged on their comprehensive plans to develop, reward, and support effective teachers and principals in high-need schools, based on evaluations that include multiple measures, including student growth.
A list of TIF winners can be found online at: www2.ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/ awards.html. Note that award amounts listed for each winner are over a five-year period.
For more information, contact Iraida Mendez-Cartaya, assistant superintendent, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Grants Administration, and Community Engagement, at 305-995-1497.
