Pearland ISD is working to develop a teacher incentive program that will allow the district to become more competitive in recruiting effective teachers while rewarding top-performing teachers with more money annually.

TIA is funded by the State of Texas as part of House Bill 3. As a result, the state has established specific criteria and guidelines regarding how the funds can be earned and distributed. To that end, Pearland ISD will only move forward with TIA so long as it continues to be state-funded.

Designated teachers earn additional compensation that is associated with their designation level at their campus. See below for ranges provided by TIA but specific amounts are determined after data is submitted to TEA:

• Recognized: $3,000 - $9,000
• Exemplary: $6,000 - $18,000
• Master: $12,000 - $32,000

For specific funding information by campus, click here to review the TIA Allotment Funding Interactive Map. Be advised that higher need campuses have higher allotments.

A teacher's designation is valid for five years and is reflected on the teacher’s SBEC record. Based on performance during the 5-year designation, a teacher can be recommended for a higher designation but not a lower designation.  

Eligible to earn a TIA designation through Pearland ISD’s local designation system must meet each of the four criteria below: 

• Be a teacher coded as 087 in PEIMS.
• Meet the instructional time requirement of teaching students directly for at least 90 days at 100% of the day or 180 days at 50% or more of the day,
• Have classroom observations with an unmodified T-TESS rubric and have student growth data directly linked to teacher instruction, and
• Have been employed by Pearland ISD at the time of Winter Roster Submission (e.g. the last Friday in February).

Pearland ISD will continue to research ways to designate teachers in the future.  The district is working to determine valid and reliable growth measures to assess teachers’ performance accurately and fairly.

All Pearland ISD Campuses are eligible.

Math Teachers in Grades 4 – 8 and Algebra 1

ELAR Teachers in Grades 4 – 8 and ELA 1 & 2

Yes! The full T-TESS rubric will be used for teacher observations. While the district is only submitting scores from Domains 2 (Planning) and 3 (Learning Environment) for the purposes of TIA, Pearland ISD deeply believes in the value of T-TESS holistically. Therefore, each teacher will continue to receive an overall T-TESS score across the 4 domains in order to provide feedback and coaching for continued growth and success as a teacher.

In the first year of the TIA process, all eligible teachers will participate in a minimum of 1 formal scored observation and three informal walkthroughs  per school year. As other teachers become eligible, they will participate in a similar process.

Formal observations will be approximately 45 minutes in duration or one complete lesson cycle.

It is critical to ensure that observation scoring is fair and equitable across grade levels, content areas, and campuses. To achieve this goal, campus administrators will participate in an ongoing calibration process that includes both calibration certification and activities throughout the year.  Additionally, district and campus administrators will regularly analyze teacher observation trends across campuses, teaching assignments, and appraisers to look for and address potential rating discrepancies.

Pearland ISD will use student academic growth on STAAR.  Student academic growth on STAAR is provided in Math grades 4-8, Algebra 1 and ELAR grades 4-8, ELA 1&2.

For Pearland ISD, the Summative TTESS Observation Score for Domains 2 and 3 will weigh 30% and the Academic Growth Scores will weigh 70% when determining designation eligibility.

The statute requires that 90% of TIA funds be distributed directly to teachers and no more than 10% of the funds be spent on supporting elements of TIA. Pearland ISD has distributed TIA funds as follows:

• 90% of the teacher TIA allotment will be distributed directly to the individual TIA-designated teacher.  The allotment is TRS eligible.
• 10% of the teacher TIA allotment will be reserved at the district level to support district oversight of the implementation of TIA and the ongoing development of TIA resources and professional development.

There will not be any payment for Designated Teachers who leave the district without completing their contract after Winter Roster submission. For any teachers that are end of year resignations, the district will provide the payout to the teacher by August 31. If the teacher retires after Winter Roster submission, then the TIA funds would be provided to the Designated teacher no later than August 31. If the Designated Teacher retires before Winter Roster submission, then no TIA funds will be provided to the teacher.