Teacher Compensation Policy
Shortage-subject areas: North Dakota offers loan forgiveness for up to two newly hired teachers in each district with qualifying student loans for teaching at a grade level or in a content area identified as a teacher shortage area.
High-need schools: North Dakota does not offer incentives to teach at high-need schools.
Teachers who are National Board Certified are eligible to receive a $1,500 annual supplement. However, this differential pay is not tied to teaching at high-need schools.
North Dakota may offer teachers increased compensation pay for accepting positions that are
unfilled 45 days prior to the start of the school year. To be eligible, a teacher
must be highly qualified and must not have taught in the state during the
previous 12 months.
Expand differential pay initiatives for teachers in shortage-subject areas.
North Dakota's loan forgiveness program is a desirable recruitment and retention tool for teachers early in their careers; however, the state should expand its program to include those who are already part of the teaching pool. A salary differential is an attractive incentive for every teacher, not just early career teachers with education debt.
Support
differential pay initiatives for effective teachers in high-need schools.
North Dakota should encourage districts to link compensation
to district needs. Such policies can help districts achieve a more equitable
distribution of teachers.
Consider
tying National Board supplements to teaching in high-need schools.
This differential pay could be an incentive to attract some
of North Dakota's most accomplished teachers to low-performing schools.
North Dakota was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis.
8B: High-Need Schools and Subjects
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.