Whitman Elementary - Tulsa Public Schools

with market pay resulting in a competitive and fair pay structure. Key school leadership positions such as
principals at every level, were a special focus of the compensation study as the district is committed to
remain competitive with market pay and enhance its ability to attract and retain the most highly
qualified candidates. Tulsa Public Schools plans to review compensation practices on our regular basis
to ensure internal and external market equity.
V. Release of Ineffective Teachers and Principals in a Timely Manner
Teacher/Leader Effectiveness System and Related Supports. The District’s successful evaluation
system (the TLE Observation and Evaluation System) provides teachers and principals with a
performance ranking on a scale from 1-5. The TLE evaluation system provides teachers and principals
with a five-tier support system for improvement, but when they fail to improve, the District’s
performance-based exit procedures go into effect and provide for their timely release from the District.
In the months following the district-wide implementation of the TLE evaluation system in 2010-
2011, the Human Capital personnel successfully exited 57 teachers and 12 principals from the District for
poor performance through recommendations for non-renewal and termination proceedings. These
exits targeted teachers and principals whose performance rankings were 1 or 2 (Ineffective or Needs
Improvement). At least 7 principals were demoted (removed from their principalship) but not exited
from the District. Due process hearings, as applicable, were held throughout the summer of 2011 and
all recommendations for non-renewal and termination were adopted by the Board. Many other
teachers were counseled out of the District for performance reasons prior to this time.
The District is aggressive in seeking performance-based exits, but it also recognizes that
teachers/principals must be supported and provided a chance to improve prior to any removal from the
District. As a precursor to the District’s support/release program , over 130 Personal Development Plans
(plans for improvement) were issued for teachers and 31 for principals. At least 29 teachers were also
placed in an intensive remediation-based mentoring program lasting 8 weeks.
It is notable that prior to the implementation of the TLE Evaluation System in 2010-2011, there
had been no performance-based exiting of teachers or principals and a very small number of personal
development plans. A significant support for this occurrence was the complete reorganization of the
District’s entire human capital department and the addition of Human Capital Partners. The human
resource function at the District has been completely restructured, with a new approach to recruitment,
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