The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers and the Cincinnati Public Schools administration have reached tentative agreement on changes to the teacher pay-for-performance plan — touted as the first of its kind in the nation.

        District officials and union members have been working furi ously through the summer to make changes to the system — first developed in 1998 and tested in 2000 — because many teachers have reservations about the detailed and involved process that will tie their pay to how well they perform in the classroom.

        If the changes are ratified by the school board and CFT, teachers will receive more training on how the evaluation system works and will be evaluated annually on about one-fourth of the required 17 standards.

        Previously they were to be evaluated on just one standard a year.

        Standards upon which they will be evaluated include how teachers design lessons, use clearly defined assessments and create an inclusive and caring environment.

        The union and administration also agreed to allow more teachers with many years of experience to opt out of having pay tied to their performance evaluations, said Kathleen Ware, associate superintendent for CPS.

        In a statement Friday, Sue Taylor, CFT president, said, “Last year was the first time specific standards for effective teaching were spelled out by the teaching profession and the district. Implementation was rushed; there was too little training, and not enough assistance to help teachers improve. ”

        The concept of having teachers' pay tied to performance is gathering speed in educational circles and Cincinnati is being looked to as a model.

        Under the new contract, teachers' pay will be tied to performance, but the pay portion will not take effect until August 2002.

        However, tying pay to teachers' evaluations — which occur annually with more detailed evaluations every five years — could be voted out by the teachers' union or by the CPS board of education in May.

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