Compensation & Benefits

TIA Strategic Compensation

Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) – Strategic Compensation Plan

Our district is committed to recognizing and rewarding excellent teaching. Through the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), we are implementing a Strategic Compensation Plan designed to attract, support, and retain highly effective educators. This plan provides additional compensation for teachers who earn TIA designations, ensuring that outstanding teaching is celebrated and that every student has access to excellent instruction.

Learn more about how our district is implementing the Teacher Incentive Allotment:

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25-26 Principal Strategic Compensation System Guidebook

Please click the link below to view the 25-26 Principal Strategic Compensation System Guidebook.

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Have questions about TIA?

Submit the intake form below, and our team will follow up with information and support.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility and Participation

Per TEA rule, to be eligible, a teacher must be coded as 087 (teacher) per the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) description of codes for 90 days at 100% of the day (equivalent to four and one-half months or a full semester) or 180 days required at 50–99% of the day and compensated for that employment. Additionally, the teacher must work directly with students in a way that student growth can be tied back to that work. Because of state law and TEA rules, this excludes librarians, counselors, nurses, paraprofessionals, diagnosticians and others.

Implementation Timeline and Phases

Irving ISD developed an in-depth application for submission to Texas Education Agency (TEA) and submitted the application by the 2025 deadline. Application assistance, visioning, and support was provided by administration and the Strategic Compensation and Teacher Incentive Allotment "Steering Committee" which had district-wide representatives, including teachers and other instructional leaders. In August 2025 TEA approved Irving ISD's application to continue the pursuit of TIA funding; progressing the district into Data Capture Year for 2025-2026.

Evaluation Metrics

T-PESS and T-TESS continue to be the official appraisal instrument at Irving ISD. Principal Measures of Effectiveness, Strategic Compensation, and Teacher Incentive Allotment are all aimed at rewarding excellence in education, by correlating and calibrating measures of student achievement to professional success. There are specific data points, rubrics, and measures calculated for each group and subgroup of qualifying individuals. Principals will receive individual scorecard information from their Executive Director, along with the Principal Strategic Compensation System Guidebook for 2025-2026, an Irving ISD specific document that includes "Understanding Performance-Based Compensation" and "Strategic Compensation Effectiveness Level Calculation." The equivalent guidebook for Teachers and Assistant Principals is in the making and will be made available online when complete.

Compensation and Funding

Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) is a Tier 1 allotment through the Foundation School Program (FSP), the system through which the state provides funding to districts. This system, grounded in the Texas Education Code, creates a sustainable funding source for districts implementing TIA. Qualifying districts receive annual allotment funds when they employ eligible designated teachers. These funds must then be used for teacher compensation on the campus where the designated teacher works.

Compensation bands for principals within the 2025-2026 guidebook are categorized by effectiveness levels: Unsatisfactory, Progressing, Proficient I, Proficient II, Exemplary, and Master.

Compensation bands for assistant principals and teachers are being developed over the 2025-2026 academic year by Irving ISD; as part of the local designation system.

Tracking and Transparency

Stakeholder Engagement at Irving ISD will include presentations at school board meetings, professional development workshops and discussions, dissemination of information at campus-based faculty meetings, maintaining a strategic compensation question intake portal during Data Capture Year 2025-2026, electronic surveys, a TIA Teacher Toolkit on our intranet for the 2026-2027 academic year, and various public-facing Q&A forums where our students, staff, and community have the opportunity to ask questions and give real-time feedback.

Assessments, scorecard components, and measurement tools will be public information and focused on student growth.

Designation Details and Categories

Assessments, scorecard components, and measurement tools will be public information and focused on student growth.

Conversations, Concerns and Perceptions

Who (does this initiative impact): Principals, Assistant Principals, Teachers

What (are the program names): Strategic Compensation (StratComp) and Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA)

When (is this process active): 2024-2025 application submission, 2025-2026 Data Capture, 2026-2027 System Expansion

Where (are students and staff being measured) : Across 34 campuses at Irving ISD

Why (implement this initiative): Irving ISD is pursuing TIA funding and developing a Strategic Compensation model to recruit, retain, and reward educational professionals, with a focus on student achievement.