Frisco ISD Employment - Teacher Incentive Allotment

Teacher Incentive Allotment

Teachers with a Recognized, Exemplary or Master designation on their SBEC certificate can receive a state stipend in Frisco ISD through the Teacher Incentive Allotment. After costs, yearly stipends in Frisco ISD range from $2,700 to $14,000 and are paid in a lump sum each spring. The state stipend amount varies based on the designation and the level of socioeconomic need on the campus where the teacher is assigned.

Frisco ISD's goal is to provide as many teachers as possible the opportunity to earn a designation. The Teacher Incentive Allotment is not a merit-pay approach to compensation, and it does not replace or affect the District’s current pay structure. It is optional for districts to participate and is intended as a state-funded pathway for effective educators to earn higher salaries.

Earn a Designation

To receive a designation, a teacher must be identified as a top-performing teacher per the standards provided by the TEA. There are three designation levels: Recognized, Exemplary, and Master. The higher the designation, the higher the state stipend.

The District is focused on integrating the TIA into the good work teachers are doing throughout the District and ensuring the system is useful for improving student outcomes.

State law does not require a forced distribution. FISD’s local designation system has no cap on the number of teachers who can receive designations, and there is no ranking of teachers. One teacher’s designation will not affect another teacher’s ability to earn a designation. If a teacher’s data meets the determined cut point, they will be designated.

Because of the vast subjects taught by Frisco ISD, the District is phasing in select groups of teachers to earn the designation.

Phase 1 includes teachers of 4-8 Math and Reading, Algebra 1 and English 2. These courses were chosen because the state assessment has progress measures built in, and teachers of those courses are not required to do additional work to gather data on student growth.
Phase 2 includes additional core areas and a few others in the 2023-24 school year. These teachers will learn if FISD’s designation system will be approved in the spring of 2025.
Phase 3 will include the next batch of teachers in the 2024-25 school year. These teachers will learn if FISD’s designation system will be approved in the spring of 2026.

Frisco ISD sends data to the Texas Education Agency for review with each phase.

National Board Certification

A Nationally Board Certified teacher will automatically receive a Recognized designation and a state stipend. Once a certification is earned, TEA will reimburse $1,900 to cover the fees paid while seeking certification. To seek reimbursement or to ensure the District is notified of your National Board Certification, contact Chastity Johnson in HR at JohnsonC@friscoisd.org.

FISD's Local Designation System

State law requires FISD’s local designation system to include teacher observation and student growth. The system cannot be approved by TEA until district data has been reviewed.

Teacher Observation

TEA has provided standards to help districts distinguish designation levels through the T-TESS teacher observation.

As a group phases in, every teacher in the eligible group will be required to be observed, regardless of the less-than-annual observation schedule. Each phase group will be observed as part of the District’s data collection for TIA, along with anyone who teaches a course that supports those STAAR tests, including Special Education, Reading Lab, etc. This is called data capture. This observation will be in addition to anyone already scheduled to be observed.

Student Growth

Measuring student growth ensures that a teacher can be recognized for growing a student academically even if that student doesn’t meet a certain achievement level. The student growth measure will vary depending on the subject area. Some subject areas may be able to use a state or locally-developed test, while others will use a portfolio method.

TEA provides districts with standards to help determine student growth and requires districts to ensure that a teacher is not more or less likely to get a designation based on their subject area, teaching assignment or student population.