Reward and Recognition for Teachers

Options for rewarding excellent teachers with higher pay and enhanced status have been unveiled in a new paper commissioned by the NSW Government.

Under options released for consultation, classroom teachers who are assessed as ‘expert teachers’ under the Rewarding Excellence in Teaching program could attract salaries of up to $147,000 a year, or beyond, in recognition of their skills and impact.

The paper, which was developed by Professor John Hattie, a world-leading expert on education outcomes, asks a series of questions of the teaching workforce and key stakeholders around the best pathways for identifying, selecting and allocating these roles.

Over the next four weeks more than 100 roundtables will be held with teachers and other school staff across NSW to hear their feedback on the Options Paper. Staff will also be able to share feedback via online through a survey.

Professor Hattie said it is important this policy is built from the profession up, rather than from the top down.

“We want to hear from teachers across this entire state to ensure we get the policy right and to find the best way to get great teachers to remain in the classroom,” Professor Hattie said.

“We already know from feedback to date that schools see this reform as worthwhile, but it’s important in this next step to hear exactly how they want to see it work.”

The Rewarding Excellence in Teaching program is expected to start in 2023, and scale up across the education system over time.

Consultation is open until 25 November 2022. A copy of the policy options paper released and the consultation survey can be found at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/rewarding-excellence-in-teaching

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