High-Need Schools and Subjects: New York
Teacher Compensation Policy
Analysis of New York's policies
Shortage-subject Areas: New York's Teachers of Tomorrow Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program allows those serving in a teacher-shortage area to be eligible for an annual award of $3,400, renewable each year for three additional years. New York defines a teacher-shortage area as a public school that had a shortage of certified teachers in the previous school year.
The state also offers a Teachers of Tomorrow Science, Mathematics, Bilingual Education and English as New Language Tuition Reimbursement Program. Teachers are eligible to apply for tuition reimbursement if they teach science, mathematics, bilingual education, and/or English as a new language, in a low-performing school.
New York also offers the Math and Science Teaching Incentive program. This a loan repayment program for teachers of math and science that sign a five-year contract to teach secondary math and science in New York public schools.
High-need Schools: New York's Teachers of Tomorrow Program defines a teacher-shortage area as a public school that had a shortage of certified teachers in the previous school year. The Teachers of Tomorrow Science, Mathematics, Bilingual Education and English as New Language Tuition Reimbursement Program offers tuition reimbursement for teaching these subjects in a low-performing school.
There is also a Teachers of Tomorrow Master Teacher Program, which requires National Board certification and pays annual awards of $10,000 for up to three years to teachers in low-performing schools.
Recommendations for New York
As a result of New York's strong high-need schools and subjects policies, no recommendations are provided.
State response to our analysis
New York notes that its Teachers of Tomorrow Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program provides grants to school districts for teacher recruitment, retention, and certification activities necessary to increase the supply of qualified teachers in school districts experiencing a teacher shortage. The state defines a teacher shortage area as a public school or subject area in which there was a shortage of certified teachers in the previous school year and there is a projected shortage in the current school year. Currently, there are six grant categories, two of which address this goal. The Teachers of Tomorrow Teacher Recruitment Incentive Program allows those serving in a teacher shortage area to be eligible for an annual award of $3,400, renewable each year for three additional years.
Updated: March 2021
-
New York
Select another topic
Teacher Preparation
- Program Entry
- Teacher Shortages and Surpluses
- Program Performance Measures
- Program Reporting Requirements
- Student Teaching/Clinical Practice
Elementary Teacher Preparation
Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Middle School Content Knowledge
- Middle School Licensure Requirements
- Secondary Content Knowledge
- Secondary Licensure Requirements
Special Education Teacher Preparation
Alternate Routes
Teacher Diversity
Hiring
Teacher and Principal Evaluation
Teacher Compensation
Early Childhood Preparation
Retaining Effective Teachers
How we graded
8B: High-Need Schools and Subjects
- Shortage-Subject Areas: The state should support differential pay for effective teaching in shortage-subject areas.
- High-Need Schools: The state should support differential pay for effective teaching in high-need schools.
One-half of the total goal score is earned based on the following:
- One-half credit: The state will earn one-half of a point if it explicitly supports differential pay in subject areas where there is a demonstrated educator shortage.
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if it partially supports differential benefits in subject areas where there is a demonstrated educator shortage (e.g., tuition reimbursement).
One-half of the total goal score is earned based on the following:
- One-half credit: The state will earn one-half of a point if it explicitly supports differential pay for teachers in high-need schools.
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if it partially supports differential benefits for teachers in high-need schools (e.g., tuition reimbursement).
Research rationale
States should help address chronic shortages and needs. States should ensure that state-level policies (such as a uniform salary schedule) do not interfere with districts' flexibility in compensating teachers in ways that best meet their individual needs and resources. However, when it comes to addressing chronic shortages, states should do more than simply get out of the way. They should provide direct support for differential pay for effective teaching in shortage subject areas and high-need schools.[1] Attracting effective and qualified teachers to high-need schools or filling vacancies in hard-to-staff subjects are problems that are frequently beyond a district's ability to solve. States that provide direct support for differential pay in these areas are taking an important step in promoting the equitable distribution of quality teachers.[2] Short of providing direct support, states can also use policy levers to indicate to districts that differential pay is not only permissible but necessary.
[1] For research that suggests high performing teachers tend to transfer to schools with a large proportion of other high performing teachers and students, while low performing teachers cluster in bottom quartile schools, see: Feng, L., & Sass, T. R. (2016). Teacher quality and teacher mobility. Education Finance and Policy. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/1001506-teacher-quality-teacher-mobility.pdf; Another study found that the least effective teachers in high-poverty schools were considerably less effective than the least effective teachers in low-poverty schools. See: Sass, T. R., Hannaway, J., Xu, Z., Figlio, D. N., & Feng, L. (2012). Value added of teachers in high-poverty schools and lower poverty schools. Journal of Urban Economics, 72(2), 104-122. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001469-calder-working-paper-52.pdf
[2] Clotfelter, C., Glennie, E., Ladd, H., & Vigdor, J. (2008). Would higher salaries keep teachers in high-poverty schools? Evidence from a policy intervention in North Carolina. Journal of Public Economics, 92(5), 1352-1370. Retrieved from
Would Higher Salaries Keep Teachers in High-Poverty Schools? Evidence from a Policy Intervention in North Carolina; Kowal, J., Hassel, B. C., & Hassel, E. A. (2008). Financial incentives for hard-to-staff positions. Center for American Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2008/11/pdf/hard_to_staff.pdf; A study by researchers at RAND found that higher pay lowered attrition, and the effect was stronger in high-needs school districts. Every $1,000 increase was estimated to decrease attrition by more than 6 percent. See: Kirby, S. N., Berends, M., & Naftel, S. (1999). Supply and demand of minority teachers in Texas: Problems and prospects. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21(1), 47-66.