Teacher Incentive Allotment

In 2019, the 86th Texas Legislature created the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) as part of House Bill 3(HB 3) to provide additional funding for effective teachers. The focus of the TIA is to prioritize teaching in high needs areas and rural school districts and reward high performing teachers.

The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) provides an accessible pathway for effective teachers to earn a higher income while remaining in the classroom. Teachers may earn a designation either through the district’s local designation system or by being a National Board-Certified Teacher (NBCT).

There are three designations. Highly effective teachers will receive a designation, as either “Recognized”, “Exemplary”, or “Master”, and once earned, this designation will be added to the teacher’s SBEC certificate and remain valid for 5 years.

We want to recruit, retain, and reward the best teachers at our campuses with the highest needs. In addition, we want to encourage the professional growth and development of teachers.

This program will be implemented in phases beginning with focusing on the highest needs campuses as determined by the percentage of economically disadvantaged students served. The 2023-2024 school year is phase II implementation of the TIA program which extends to campuses with an economically disadvantaged population of 60% or more. The district has expanded nine additional campuses within the school district which will allow more teachers to earn a designation regardless of their campus, subject, or grade level across the district. Phases of expansion to the TIA program increases a larger population of eligible teachers to participate in the TIA program. The current TIA campuses serve a complex school community and the district continues to strengthen recruitment and retention efforts at our most at-risk schools.

Teachers may earn a designation either through the district’s local designation system or by being a National Board-Certified Teacher (NBCT). Texas school districts have the option to develop their own designation systems for highly effective teachers. The designation system relies upon, at a minimum, teacher observation and student growth measures. Optional components may be defined locally, such as professional growth or parent surveys.

The TIA designation system is calculated based on the weighted combination of the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) teacher appraisal system (40% of the composite score) and student growth outcomes (60% of the composite score).  Based on the final TIA score, teachers can earn a TIA designation of Master, Exemplary, or Recognized. Teachers who hold an active NBCT automatically earn a Recognized TIA designation status regardless of campus, location, or assignment.

• Instructional Coach
• Campus Reading Intervention Teacher
• Student Success Teacher
• RtI Support Teacher
• Dyslexia District Reading Intervention Teacher

For each designated teacher, districts will receive additional funding, 90% of which must be used on teacher compensation where that teacher works. Award amounts will vary from campus to campus because they are weighted by the state using the state compensatory education data. The designation moves with the teacher, but the award amount will be different based on where the teacher works. In addition, depending on the system developed by the District, award amounts could be modified over time based on changes and teacher performance. Designation award amounts can range from $3,000-$32,000 in addition to a teachers base salary.

The allotment funds will not replace the current District salary schedule. TIA compensation will be in addition to the District’s salary schedule.

TIA compensation will be included in the annual wages reported to the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) and will be used when calculating retirement benefits. The district will report the TIA incentive to TRS. TIA incentive amounts will be viewable for employees through their TRS account login once TRS processes their annual statements. TRS benefits are subject to TRS rules and regulations

Statute requires that 90% of TIA funds be distributed directly to teachers at the campus in which the designated teacher is employed at the time the TIA funds are disbursed. The remaining 10% will be used for training and support of the system, expansion of the system, administrative expenses, and professional development.

Of the 90% that is required to be spent on teacher compensation, 92% of this amount will be paid directly to designated teachers, the remaining 8% will be used to cover employer paid benefit costs. Employer-paid benefit costs comprising the 8% include deductions for Medicare tax, workers’ compensation, and Teacher Retirement System (TRS) contributions as part of the annual wages reported to the state and federal governments. Employer-paid benefits do not include federal income tax wages.

TIA-designated teachers will receive TIA compensation annually based on their TIA designation and TIA state funding for their campus of assignment at the time TIA funds are disbursed. The allotment of funds generated by the State will be calculated based on where the designated teacher is teaching during the Winter Roster Verification. Allotment amounts are recalculated by TEA every April.

In order to qualify for the TIA, TEA requires valid and reliable teacher observation systems and student growth measures. In our District, the teacher observation component is T-TESS, which meets the TEA requirement for teacher observation performance standards within TIA. Student growth measures may include a combination of measures such as pre-tests and post-tests and student learning objectives (SLOs) depending on the grade level and subject. For TIA, student growth is the percentage of students who met or exceeded their growth expectations, regardless of the measure used, and this percentage is one of the indicators that identifies a teacher at the recognized, exemplary, or master levels. The other factors in the TIA program may include measures related to professional growth, campus culture, or other identified areas which are determined locally.

Teachers are eligible to earn a designation by meeting the requirements detailed below: 

• teaching in an eligible teaching assignment at a TIA eligible campus at the time of snapshot and at the winter class roster verification;  
• remaining at the same eligible TIA campus the following school year in a role ID code of 087 at the time of data submission,  
• earning a creditable year of service in Conroe ISD in a position with a Public Education Information Management (PEIMS) role ID code of 087 for at least 90 days at 100% of the day or 180 days at 50–99% of the day; and  
• being appraised by T-TESS and scoring a rating of proficient (3) or higher across all dimensions in Domain 2: Instruction and Domain 3: Learning Environment. 

The designation you earn moves with you, your designation will remain on your Texas Educator Certificate until five years have passed from the date you received it. Depending on the timing of when you transfer to another district your TIA compensation for that school year may be impacted.

No. If you earned a designation in another district, your designation will remain on your Texas Educator Certificate until five years have passed from the date you received it. Within the five year period, teachers may be put forth for a higher designation if their performance qualifies them, but they cannot be submitted for a lower designation. You will receive compensation for your designation, however the generated allotment amount of compensation will vary based on the demographics of your assigned campus.

Designated teachers who move to a Role ID other than 087 will maintain their designation if their teacher SBEC certificate is valid; however, the designated teacher will not generate annual allotment funding if they are not in a 087 teaching role for that year of service.

If a designated teacher moves campuses from one school year to another, the allotment that designated teacher generates will be recalculated based on where the designated teacher is teaching at the Winter Roster Verification and the new campus rural and socio-economic tier funding status. Generated allotment amounts are recalculated by TEA every April.

TIA allotment funding is calculated annually for designated teachers based on a set point in the spring of each year known as Winter Roster Verification. If you are still employed with the district at this set point but leave prior to the annual TIA distribution date you will receive your TIA compensation for that school year on your final pay check. However, if you retire or leave the district prior to this set point, Conroe ISD will not receive allotment funding for your designation and therefore you will not receive TIA compensation for that school year.

TIA is a two year process. Year one is known as the data capture school year in which the district collects teacher performance data. Year two is considered the designation year and another data capture school year. In year two, the district submits the prior years teacher performance data for all teachers in eligible assignments to TEA and Texas Tech University for data validation. Once TEA and Texas Tech University complete the data validation process, districts are notified of the system and designation approval or denial status. The designation cycle is a continuous process.

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Teachers who hold an active National Board Certification automatically earn a Recognized TIA designation. Conroe ISD is committed to supporting a cohort of educators throughout their journey to obtain the NBCT. CISD has created a cohort to support teachers through the process. Teachers may consider joining the CISD NBCT cohort to gain guidance and support in completing the certification. If you are interested in joining Conroe ISD’s NBCT cohort, please apply at CISD Continuing Education website. 

Please visit the following webpages. If you have additional questions, comments, or feedback, please submit any inquiries on the form at the bottom of the FAQs webpage.

CISD TIA webpage https://www.conroeisd.net/teacher-incentive-allotment/

TEA TIA webpage at https://tiatexas.org/

CISD NBC Cohort Webpage https://www.conroeisd.net/department/tl/

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards webpage https://www.nbpts.org/certification/