Technical Assistance

technical assistanceTo support districts in the development and implementation of education analytics, VARC provides technical assistance on a variety of topics. Our major clients in this area are recipients of the Department of Education’s Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants. Since 2006, the Department of Education has awarded over 100 TIF grants to state and local education agencies across the country to support innovation in human capital management (HCM) and performance-based compensation systems. In collaboration with Westat and other experts, VARC supports grantees in the design and implementation of these systems in a range of technical and policy areas including:

  • Communication and Stakeholder Engagement
    Gaining support for human capital management programs through effective communication
  • Data Quality and Data Systems
    Planning and implementing high-quality data systems and using data to support performance-based compensation
  • Strategies to Support Workforce
    Improving educator evaluation systems, professional development, and human capital development strategies to increase student learning
  • Value-Added and Other Measures
    Designing and reviewing value-added models and other student growth measures
  • Program Evaluation
    Using formative and summative assessments to evaluate and improve performance-based compensation programs
  • Fiscal and Programmatic Sustainability
    Sustaining performance-based compensation systems long-term by aligning them with state and district initiatives and fiscal goals

Over the first five years of the TIF initiative (TIF 1-2) VARC researchers and others developed a range of resources including policy and technical papers, case studies, and presentations to support grantees. Please visit the Center for Education Research website to view these resources.

The TIF TA team has continued to generate resources for TIF 3 and TIF 4, which can now be located at the TIF Community of Practice website. This site is accessible to the public and serves as an online forum for discussing technical and policy issues that emerge in HCM reform.