Prior Work: Rhode Island
Teacher Compensation Policy
Analysis of Rhode Island's policies
Requirements: Rhode Island does not have a formal policy to encourage its districts to provide
compensation for prior subject-area work experience.
Recommendations for Rhode Island
Encourage districts to compensate new teachers with relevant prior work experience.
While still leaving districts with the flexibility to
determine their own pay scales, Rhode Island should encourage districts to
incorporate mechanisms such as starting these teachers at a higher salary than
other new teachers. Such policies would be attractive to career changers with
related work experience, such as in the STEM subjects.
State response to our analysis
Rhode Island recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis. The state also provided that there are some districts that offer compensation for prior work experience, but it is accurate that no state policy exists in this area.
Updated: December 2017
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Rhode Island
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Teacher and Principal Evaluation
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How we graded
8C: Prior Work
- Compensation: The state should encourage districts to compensate new teachers with relevant prior work experience through mechanisms such as starting these teachers at an advanced step on the pay scale.
The full goal score is earned based on the following:
- Full credit: The state will earn full credit if it compensates teachers for relevant prior work experience through mechanisms such as advanced starting salaries.
- Three-quarters credit: The state will earn three-quarters of a point if it explicitly allows or encourages districts to compensate teachers for prior work experience.
- One-half credit: The state will earn one-half of a point if it allows compensation for prior work experience only for teachers of certain subjects.
- One-quarter credit: The state will earn one-quarter of a point if it limits compensation for prior work experience to military experience.
Research rationale
Districts should be allowed to pay new teachers with relevant work experience more than other new teachers. State and district salary structures frequently fail to recognize that new teacher hires are not necessarily new to the workforce.[1] Some new teachers bring with them deep work experience that is directly related to the subject matter they will teach.[2] For example, the hiring of a new high school chemistry teacher with 20 years' experience as a chemical engineer would likely be a great boon to any district.[3] Yet most salary structures would place this individual at the same point on the pay schedule as a new teacher straight out of college. Compensating these teachers commensurate with their experience is an important recruitment and retention strategy, particularly when other, non-teaching opportunities in these fields are likely to be more financially lucrative.[4]
Specifics of teacher pay should largely be left to local decision making. However, states should use policy mechanisms to inform districts that it is not only permissible, but also necessary, to compensate new teachers with relevant prior work experience.
[1] Much of the blame for the difficulty in hiring candidates with specific expertise falls on the single salary schedule that rewards only teaching experience and degree level. See: Goldhaber, D. D., & Liu, A. Y. H. (2005). Teacher salary structure and the decision to teach in public schools: An analysis of recent college graduates. Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington.
[2] Of particular concern for the teaching profession are the quality and number of teachers available in math, science and special education and of those serving high-poverty students. See: Hare, D., Nathan, J., Darland, J., & Laine, S. W. (2000). Teacher shortages in the midwest: Current trends and future issues. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED446090; Harrington, P. E. (2001). Attracting new teachers requires changing old rules. College Board Review, 192, 6-11. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ625027; Shields, P. M., Humphrey, D. C., Wechsler, M. E., Riel, L. M., Tiffany-Morales, J., Woodworth, K., ... & Price, T. (2001). The status of the teaching profession 2001. Santa Cruz, CA: The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from https://www.wested.org/resources/the-status-of-the-teaching-profession-2001-report/
[3] People with specific skills are in high demand in the non-teacher labor market. See: Stasz, C., & Brewer, D. J. (1999). Academic skills at work: Two perspectives. RAND Corporation. Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP805.html; See also: Weisbrod, B. A., & Karpoff, P. (1968). Monetary returns to college education, student ability, and college quality. Review of Economics and Statistics, 50(4), 491-497.
[4] It has also been shown that teachers who teach specific subject matters have higher rates of attrition. See: Podgursky, M., Monroe, R., & Watson, D. (2004). The academic quality of public school teachers: An analysis of entry and exit behavior. Economics of Education Review, 23(5), 507-518.; In addition, research has shown that math and science teachers—both men and women—with high ACT scores are the first to leave the teaching profession. See: S. Kirby, S. N., Naftel, S., & Berends, M. (1999). Staffing at-risk school districts in Texas: Problems and prospects. RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1083.html; See also: Henke, R. R., Zahn, L., & Carroll, C. D. (2001). Attrition of new teachers among recent college graduates: Comparing occupational stability among 1992-93 graduates who taught and those who worked in other occupations (NCES 2001-189). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001189.pdf