Allison Bridges raps about polygons and other shapes to a classroom of third-graders, her long, blond braid swinging in time to the beat. The children hang on every word and movement, mimicking her “math rap.”
Inspired by Drake and other popular musicians her students like, Bridges creates her own raps connected to classroom curriculum – an innovative teaching technique meant to engage children’s senses and immerse them in learning.
“I’m trying to meet them at their level,” says Bridges, who teaches at Feldwood Elementary in South Fulton County.
Considered one of the best teachers in the county's school system, Bridges is part of a first-of-its kind program rolled out this fall that significantly changes how educators are paid in Georgia's fourth-largest school system.
Under the new pilot program, Fulton's top teachers can earn $20,000 stipends for working in its lowest-performing schools. No other system in Georgia offers such pay bumps tied to merit to induce the best teachers to work in the neediest schools. The stipends award more money to teachers who elicit high test scores and other measurable achievement by their students. School systems across Georgia are closely watching to see if Fulton's model is successful, amid talks at the state level about changing teachers' compensation.
The district is part of a small but growing group of U.S. school systems bucking the long-standing educator pay system based on academic degrees and years of experience.
Fulton leaders say they’re finding it a challenge to get qualified teachers into lower-performing schools, however.
Although 375 teachers were eligible to participate, only 32 actually applied for the positions, according to Eddie Breaux, a human resources staff director for Fulton schools. He said some of the teachers who did not apply said they believed teachers and principals would not support them. Many did not want to make longer commutes out of their neighborhoods.
Teacher quality can make a significant difference in how children learn, and Fulton’s initiative is intended to give the best teachers an incentive to work in lower-performing schools, which tend to have less experienced teachers who have fewer credentials and no track record of success.
The Obama administration has highlighted this issue in recent years as part of its Excellent Educators for All Initiative, aimed at making sure all students have equal access to a high-quality education.
Fulton leaders say they're modeling the program off a recent study commissioned by the U.S. DOE that looked at 10 districts in seven states that tried a similar program. The study found that when top teachers transferred to low-performing schools, test scores at the elementary level rose while those at the middle school level were mixed.
Cory Koedel, associate professor of economics and public policy at the University of Missouri who has studied teacher compensation, said such a model makes sense “if the goal is to help redistribute teachers to classrooms where it’s harder to get good teachers.
“In other jobs, you see more pay for jobs that are tougher. Jobs at some of these schools are tougher for a number of reasons,” which include dealing with the effects of poverty and potentially longer commutes for teachers, he said.
Fulton placed 10 high-performing teachers into three under-performing schools; four at McNair Middle, two at Heritage Elementary and four at Feldwood, where Bridges teaches.
The teachers are expected to stay at the school at least two years. To qualify, a teacher must be in the top 25 percent on Georgia’s new student growth measure, which is based on standardized test performance.
Fulton schools leaders plan to hire a firm to evaluate the program over the next two years. They will also look at test scores and others measures of how much the high-achieving teachers were able to help students and teachers at the low-achieving schools.
Bridges, 29, who’s been a teacher nearly eight years, said she wanted to participate because she’s passionate about diminishing the equity gap among public schools. Last year, she taught at E.C. West Elementary School, which is not far from Feldwood in Fairburn.
“I think our country has continuously and consistently been performing an injustice against our African-American, low-income children, specifically boys,” Bridges said. “I want to do something to help that.”
“We’re (teachers) having to take the place of so many roles that haven’t always been fulfilled in these children’s lives. They come from homes where there is a lot going on. If you teach in South Fulton County, there’s a good chance your students will not get dinner. There’s a good chance they’ve seen a loved one shot. I’ve got several students who are missing parents, who were actually shot. I have students who live in motels — that’s homeless status.
“So when you’re looking at the faces that have seen so much in their little lives, they have understanding of such great tragedy, they understand hardship … what I have to be is the nurturer.”
Bridges added she believes Fulton’s incentive offer will also go a long way toward rewarding younger teachers, who don’t typically see significant pay raises until they’re well into their careers. Before she started the program this year, Bridges was making close to $46,000 a year.
Racquel Harris, principal at Feldwood Elementary, said Bridges and the three other teachers at the school participating in Fulton’s new program have been welcomed by others. She said Bridges’ students have shown improvement since school started this fall. Bridges has shared a lot of her ideas and classroom practices with other educators at Feldwood.
“It’s not an easy profession, so I think it just makes sense to support our educators by giving them the appropriate compensation for the heard work they do,” Harris said.
“I just want my students to be … academically prepared … experience someone who has empathy for them. That they’re excited by education,” Harris added. “When they look back as adults, that they think highly of their experience.”
Richelle Wesley, 8, one of the students in Bridges’ class, is on her way to remembering her experience for a long time to come.
“She makes it fun by singing and jumping around,” Wesley said. “I like her.”
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