What makes an effective teacher?

That is the question facing administrators in the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers as they go about implementing a performance pay plan that is part of the $40 million grant that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the school district last year.

And what is more: Who gets to say whether a teacher is effective -- especially when that determination may be coupled to a career ladder that is designed to reward good teachers?

These, and many others, were part of a litany of questions raised by teachers throughout the district last week as it rolled out a detailed presentation of its "Empowering Effective Teachers in the Pittsburgh Public Schools" plan -- by all accounts, the first step toward performance pay.

"We have seen this in other jobs before. I watched people who had jobs for 15 to 20 years have to undergo interviews, just so they can keep their jobs," said one of a group of 25 teachers, who watched a PowerPoint presentation of the plan at Westinghouse High School.

Airing that sentiment and other questions is a fundamental part of the process of implementing the plan, which includes seven core initiatives designed to improve teacher efficiency and the learning environment in the school district, officials said.

Among them is the creation of a Promise-Readiness Corps, a team of teachers who would shepherd the same group of students from ninth grade through 10th grade. The plan also calls for expanded career opportunities through the creation of six new job classifications that would account for 400 teaching positions; a teacher academy to train incoming teachers in certain subjects and a teacher practice and evaluation system.

In addition, the school district would streamline its human resources operation and information technology platform to better track and place teachers and students.

"This is an extensive process that is designed to change the profession of teaching," Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said. "And so we need to hear from the teachers because they need to be a part of the plan, which is multi-faceted."

John Tarka, president of the teachers union, agreed.

"This is the best opportunity we have had so far to fully discuss the plan. It didn't give a lot of answers, but it gave our teachers a chance to give their input to the plan, which is very valuable," he said.

Ultimately, district administration and the teachers union will have to approve key aspects of whatever performance-pay plan the district may adopt, he said, because key aspects of the plan would have to be negotiated in the district's collective bargaining agreement.

The district's 2,700 teachers have a fundamental understanding of the plan as a result of a series of meetings, Mr. Tarka said.

"I was at Langley High School during the presentation and what I saw is that teachers were very enthusiastic and had a lot of interest in the plan, even though they had many questions as well," said Mr. Tarka.

At Westinghouse, where Terry Beal was one of two teachers who gave a more than two-hour presentation on the plan, teachers had a lot of questions, but they also showed they were open to the plan.

"The fact that they were willing to share their thoughts about what works shows that they understand this is an important step in making changes that we have to face as teachers," said Ms. Beal, a social studies teacher.

For example, the teachers welcomed the proposal to streamline the district's information technology platform to make it easier to track students' grades, attendance records and the students' parent contact information. The teachers also welcomed the idea of specialized teacher recruitment, particularly with regard to placing teachers in schools where they can thrive.

At the heart of the initiative in Pittsburgh -- which is one of four school districts around the country that received funding from the Gates Foundation -- is the challenge facing the American education system at the K-12 level, officials said.

"What we are looking for is: What are the ways to improve student achievement? Part of that is the idea that efficient teachers create better learning environments. But the challenge is how to measure that," said Chris Williams, a spokesman for the Gates Foundation.

In addition to the $40 million grant awarded to the Pittsburgh schools, the foundation is also funding a two-year research project in eight school districts around the country -- including Pittsburgh -- to come up with a method of teacher evaluation.

"The goal is to develop multiple measures. I don't think there can be one measure, but whatever we come up with can't be something we do to teachers. It has to be done with teachers," said Mr. Williams.

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