I had no intention of writing about The Equity Project Charter School (TEP) today, but I got too excited to stop myself. I can’t help it. Tell me about a new innovative school that’s going to try something different to bridge the achievement gap and you’ve got my undivided attention.

TEP is a middle school set to open this fall in Washington Heights, NY with 120 fifth graders (mostly from low-income Hispanic families) and eight teachers. The students were chosen by lottery (with priority given to children living in the neighborhood and to those who struggle academically). It’s being financed as a typical charter school using mostly public monies and some private funds. Nothing too out of the ordinary so far. But here’s where it gets interesting:

The founder of the school, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, literally handpicked the teachers himself, flying around the country to not only interview the top 35 applicants personally but to actually watch them teach in their hometowns. Those he finally selected are an impressive bunch: An accomplished violinist who incorporates neuroscience into her music teaching; a physical education teacher who was Kobe Bryant’s personal trainer; two ivy league graduates; a teacher from Arizona with over 30 years of experience. The newly hired teachers will also get paid an impressive salary: $125,000 in their first year, with an opportunity to earn up to $25,000 in bonuses a year later.

The school is actually an experiment designed to test the theory (that I’ve long espoused—see previous posts here and here) that excellent teachers are the key ingredients to achieving school success. In fact, since these teachers will manage larger than average class sizes, and there will be no assistant principals, academic deans, or teaching coaches to lend support, the only variable that will account for the school’s success or failure will be the performance of the teachers. (Although I guess one could argue that the size of the school, which will peak at 480 students, might also be a factor, as well as the longer school day and school year.)

Nevertheless, as the New York Times suggests,  this experiment could shed some light on the question of whether a group of extraordinarily talented teachers is enough to make a school great, and whether offering six-figure salaries is a good way to attract them. (The answer is probably yes to both, although these individuals were already in classrooms when Vanderhoek recruited them, so it’s not like he added any new talent to the teacher pool. Also, most were already willing to teach for a lot less money, although they wouldn’t necessarily be willing to relocate to NYC to teach this particular population of students without the $125k incentive.)

I’m pretty eager to see how this school will fare in the future, and what it might teach us about how to overcome the greater challenge of reforming our nation’s schools. I’m just wondering about the scale factor. In other words, if The Equity Project Charter School is wildly successful, will replicating it by opening other small schools with highly talented and highly paid teachers who are recruited away from  schools across the country be viewed as a more favorable alternative to, say, opening another KIPP or Green Dot charter school with proven formulas that work with excellent (albeit not necessarily ivy-league graduate) teachers?

At the very least, the Equity Project’s success will hopefully demonstrate the need to focus on teacher quality in all schools, and the benefits of funding reform efforts designed to enhance teacher performance and retain excellent teachers.

p.s. Just for the record, I have no problem paying teachers 125k a year plus bonuses for doing outstanding work.

(Photo: Tony the Misfit’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons)