Teacher Incentive Allotment

House Bill 3 (HB3), passed by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019, established the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) initiative with the stated goal of achieving a six-figure salary for teachers. TIA funds help Texas school systems reward, retain, and recruit highly effective teachers. The funding formula prioritizes high needs and rural campuses.

The TIA program recognizes effective teachers at five designation levels: Nationally Board Certified, Acknowledged, Recognized, Exemplary, and Master. These teacher designations generate additional teacher-focused allotment funding for districts to reward their top performers.

This is not a merit-pay approach to teacher performance-based compensation, and it will not replace the district’s current pay structure. For those who earn a designation based on teacher observation and student growth, the compensation will be an additional state stipend, completely separate from the current Manor ISD pay structure. This stipend is credited in the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) and will be used in retirement benefit calculations.

The amount of funding a teacher can receive is determined by a formula that considers the level of socioeconomic need at the campus where they serve and whether the campus is rural. These amounts are subject to change each year based on the school's level of socioeconomic need.

TEA understands that it’s especially challenging to recruit highly effective teachers to some schools with high percentages of economically disadvantaged students. This incentive model is intended to attract AND retain teachers to areas with the greatest need by providing increased compensation.

Districts participating in TIA must create a local designation system that incorporates teacher observations and student growth measures, and may include other locally selected measures to determine qualifying teachers in the district. These eligible teachers can then earn a designation as an Acknowledged, Recognized, Exemplary, or Master teacher. Once a teacher earns a designation, it is valid for 5 years and transferable if the teacher teaches a different subject or grade or moves between districts within the state. During those five years, a teacher’s performance can be submitted for a higher designation under the criteria of the local designation system, but their designation level cannot be reduced.

To designate teachers, the district’s system must be fully approved through a rigorous two-step application and validation process. This process includes 1.) data validation conducted by Texas Tech University (TTU), and 2.) a full holistic system review by TEA. Manor ISD is in a data collection year process and will submit for local designation in October 2026.

Designation eligibility is a 2-year process. Teachers must be employed in Manor ISD for a creditable year of service at an eligible campus, in an eligible teaching position, teaching an eligible course, and meeting all TEA requirements to be eligible for a designation.

Teachers must remain employed in Manor ISD from the Data Capture Year through the last Friday of February of the following school year and meet all requirements in the chart below to be eligible for a new or higher designation. 

Teacher observations are a required component of all district TIA systems. A valid and reliable TIA system needs a strongly calibrated observation system. A sound teacher evaluation system should include a process that seeks to develop habits of continuous improvement, and the process must ensure that appraisers and teachers engage in dialogue and collaboration to solicit evidence-based feedback and targeted professional development. 

The Texas Teacher Evaluation & Support System (T-TESS) is the state-adopted teacher appraisal instrument designed to support teachers, and as part of the continuous improvement process, teachers consistently hold themselves to a high standard for individual development and performance. 

T-TESS includes three components aimed at capturing the holistic nature of teaching and developing teacher habits of continuous improvement: 

1. goal setting and professional development plan; 
2. pre-conference, walk-through, observation, and post-conference (i.e., evaluation cycle); and
3. student growth

T-TESS is used as the teacher observation instrument in Manor ISD’s TIA system. While teachers will continue to be evaluated on all domains and dimensions of the T-TESS system, the TIA system will evaluate ratings from Domains 2 and 3 of the teacher’s summative evaluation only. These domains are closely correlated with teachers’ behaviors for effective instruction and learning environments. 

To be eligible for a designation, TEA has advised minimum performance standards for teacher observation outcomes, which the Manor ISD designation system currently follows as a starting place for determining designations. Manor ISD may increase these minimums at any time to maintain the validity and reliability of the district’s TIA system.

To be eligible for a designation, T-TESS Summative outcomes across the eight dimensions in Domains 2 and 3 must average to a minimum 3.5.

Specific information on the teacher observation component is available to Manor ISD teachers in the Manor ISD TIA Guidebook

Student growth is a required component of all TIA systems. The Manor ISD TIA system is designed with consideration of students first, with emphasis on the belief and expectation that with high-yield student-centered instruction, all students will learn and grow. This belief is reflected in a system that includes as many students as possible in the evaluation of growth.

Utilizing the TEA-approved pre-test/post-test method of measuring TIA student growth, growth is determined by students meeting district-specified growth measures from beginning-of-year (BOY) to end-of-year (EOY) assessments.

To be eligible for a designation, TEA has advised minimum performance standards for student growth outcomes, which the Manor ISD designation system currently follows as a starting place for determining designations. Manor ISD may increase these minimums at any time to maintain the validity and reliability of the district’s TIA system.

To be eligible for a designation, a minimum of 50% of students who are attributed to the teacher and evaluated for growth must meet the district-established student growth measure(s).

Specific information on the student growth component is available to Manor ISD teachers in the Manor ISD TIA Guidebook.

Opportunity Culture is an initiative of Public Impact that is designed to help highly skilled, master teachers keep making a direct impact on students while giving them opportunities to increase their responsibilities—and compensation. Many school districts and states are adopting the Opportunity Culture model, including districts in Texas like Midland and Ector County.