Differentiated Staffing

Differentiated staffing is the organization of school staff based on varying levels of experience and qualification. In a differentiated staffing structure, teachers and other instructional staff are assigned different titles and sometimes different pay grades based on their experience or degree of demonstrated effectiveness in the classroom. Also referred to as distributive or alternative staffing, and sometimes as “career ladders,” differentiated staffing models are premised on the idea that schools can improve the overall effectiveness of teaching staff by designing a staff structure that recognizes and maximizes the strengths of its best teachers.

The design of most differentiated staffing models places fully licensed and credentialed teachers who demonstrate instructional success in positions as lead or master teachers. These teachers often act as mentor or coach to newer teachers or to those who have been identified as needing improvement. Pre-service teachers, others with little or no preparation or experience, or struggling teachers, take on more supportive or apprentice-like positions. Some models also use other school staff to provide additional administrative support and assistance to teachers, who can then focus more directly on instruction.

The importance of improving teacher quality for all students has gained considerable attention in the Past decade. Most recently, the highly qualified teacher provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 have played a powerful role in pushing for teacher quality by requiring that all teachers of core academic subjects meet certain “highly qualified” criteria. This focus on improving teaching has resulted in a host of education reforms aimed at defining and measuring teacher quality, and motivating and rewarding the most effective individuals to enter and remain in teaching. Various models of differentiated staffing have emerged as a strategy for improving teacher quality. In the current policy context, it is almost inextricably linked to discussions of teacher evaluation and teacher pay, although this was not always the case.