Professor Testifies Before Congressional Panel

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Gary Ritter, associate professor of education and public policy at the University of Arkansas, testified Friday before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. As part of a panel of educators, researchers and policy analysts, Ritter testified on the need to provide greater financial rewards in order to recruit and retain highly effective teachers, particularly in hard-to-staff subjects such as math and science, as well as in high-poverty school districts.

Congress is considering whether to re-authorize the federal No Child Left Behind Act. This legislation includes the Teacher Incentive Fund, a plan that provides federal grants to fund pay-for-performance compensation programs. Ritter has served as a reviewer of TIF applications and most recently consulted on the proposed TIF grant for the Rogers School District that, if implemented, would bring pay-for-performance to 10 Rogers schools.

Ritter earned a doctorate in education policy in 2000 from the University of Pennsylvania. At the University of Arkansas, his research interests include program evaluation, school finance, volunteer tutoring programs, standards-based and accountability-based school reform, racial segregation in schools, and the impact of preschool care on school readiness. He led a team that is evaluating a merit pay program in the Little Rock School District and issued a report in January on the first year of the program.

The study of the Little Rock merit pay plan found it produced significant gains in student performance on standardized tests and a more positive work environment for teachers. The Achievement Challenge Pilot Project at Meadowcliff and Wakefield elementary schools offered bonuses to teachers and staff members that vary based on the magnitude of increases in student achievement. Ritter also said at the time that more research was needed to determine the overall effectiveness of merit pay systems.

A link to video of the hearing is available at http://edworkforce.house.gov/newsroom/multimedia.shtml.

Others who testified Friday were Joel I. Klein, chancellor of the New York City Department of Education; Jarvis T. Sanford, principal of Dodge Renaissance Academy in Chicago; John D. Podesta, president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress; Jack D. Dale, superintendent of Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools; Joseph P. Burke, superintendent of Springfield (Mass.) Public Schools; Joan Bibeau, a teacher at Eagleview Elementary School in Squaw Lake, Minn.; and Valdine McLean, a science teacher at Pershing County (Nev.) High School.

Each witness offered an opening statement and then responded to questions from the members of the House committee.