Teacher Incentive Allotment

The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) is a state program created through House Bill 3 to recognize and reward highly effective teachers. Teachers may earn one of three designation levels through a district’s local designation system or through National Board Certification:

• Recognized
• Exemplary
• Master

When a teacher earns a designation, the state provides additional teacher-focused funding to the district based on the teacher’s designation level and campus demographics.

TIA creates an opportunity for teachers to earn additional compensation while remaining in the classroom.

TIA requires districts to submit data with value-added measures (examples include: STAAR scores, EOC scores, iStation, MAP scores) as part of the student growth measure component. After much consideration, the committee chose to start the TIA process with grades and content areas that already have value-added measures established to assure validity and reliability of the student growth data.

Eligible Teachers Phase 1: Teachers of courses with growth measures currently in place for the 2024-25 school year:

• K - 8th Grade Reading/Math Teachers 
• Algebra I Teachers
• English I and II Teachers

However, the district is committed to providing an opportunity for all teachers in the district to earn a designation under the local designation system. To meet this goal, the district is actively working to put student growth measures in place in every grade and content area and will expand the TIA plan to include additional teaching assignments during the Year 2 data submission.

For each classroom teacher with a teacher designation under TEC Section 21.3521 employed by a school district, the school district is entitled to an allotment equal to the following applicable base amount increased by the high needs and rural factor as determined below:

• $3,000, or an increased amount not to exceed $9,000, for each Recognized Teacher.
• $6,000, or an increased amount not to exceed $18,000, for each Exemplary Teacher; and
• $12,000, or an increased amount not to exceed $32,000, for each Master Teacher;

The funding is added to the teachers' SBEC certification and is valid for five years.

TIA payments are issued as a separate stipend through the district payroll process, beginning at the end of August 2026. These payments are based on teacher designations earned during the 2024–2025 school year using T-TESS data and student growth measures outlined in the TIA Handbook.

A TIA designation is valid for five years. For example, a designation earned in August 2026 will remain in effect through August 2031.

• Leaving the district: If a teacher leaves before the August payout, the allotment remains at the campus and is distributed among TIA-designated teachers on that campus (Effective 26.27 school year).
• Transferring campuses: If a teacher transfers within the district and remains in a TIA-eligible position (087 code), they will receive their allotment. The amount is determined by the campus assignment based on the Winter Roster submission.

Teacher designations are valid for five years. Within the five-year period, teachers may be put forth for a higher designation if their performance qualifies them, but they cannot be submitted for a lower designation. 

Yes. Data collection is required annually for all teachers in TIA-eligible positions. This ensures compliance with TEA requirements, allows designated teachers to maintain their status, and provides opportunities for other teachers to earn a designation.

The district continues to expand TIA to additional content areas. The most recent expansion plan (submitted in April) includes:

• 4th, 6th, and 7th Grade Science and Social Studies
• Algebraic Reasoning, Geometry, Algebra II
• English III and IV
• IPC, Chemistry, Physics
• World History and Geography
• Principles courses in Applied Engineering; Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources; Business, Marketing, and Finance; Health Science; and Law and Public Safety

Additional expansion into CTE, Fine Arts, and Special Education is under consideration. See the TIA Handbook for more details.

The district’s expansion plan includes several CTE courses, such as Principles of Applied Engineering, Agriculture, Business, Health Science, and Law/Public Safety. Additional CTE, Fine Arts, and Special Education pathways are being explored for future expansion. Refer to the TIA Handbook for updates.

Teachers are evaluated in all content areas included in the district’s TIA plan. For example, a teacher instructing both 3rd Grade Reading and Math will have both subjects considered. If a teacher teaches both a TIA-eligible and a non-eligible subject, only the eligible subject is used for evaluation. Teachers cannot choose which eligible subjects are included.

While a teacher’s designation remains the same, the allotment amount may change based on the campus. TEA determines funding levels according to the percentage of economically disadvantaged students at each campus. As a result, a transfer may increase or decrease the allotment.

Yes. The LHISD Human Resources Department is developing T-TESS “look-fors” to support alignment across campuses. These will be shared with administrators and used to strengthen calibration and coaching practices.

Yes. Given that a school’s student enrollment changes yearly, the campus’ socioeconomic tier is recalculated annually. As a reminder, this calculation uses the home addresses of students who attend a particular campus. Allotment funds for each designated teacher are based on the campus, and not the individual students assigned to the designated teacher.

Like other income, TIA teacher payouts is subject to taxes and retirement contributions. All compensation from TIA is TRS eligible. Districts may pay employee and employer contributions from the 90% portion of the allotment or from the 10%, as those benefit payments are considered to be included in overall compensation. See our TIA Guidance for District Business Offices for more details around how districts can issue payouts.

TIA designations stay with the teacher, not the district. If a teacher earns a TIA designation and later moves to another Texas school district, the designation will remain active for the remainder of the five-year designation period.

However, TIA allotment funding is generated annually based on where the teacher is employed in an eligible teaching assignment during the state’s winter roster verification period. If a teacher resigns from Liberty Hill ISD before the district’s payout date and is no longer employed with the district during the required eligibility window, the teacher would not receive that year’s Liberty Hill ISD TIA payout.

If the teacher is employed in an eligible teaching assignment in another Texas district, future allotment funding would be generated through the new district based on that district’s campus funding and local TIA spending plan.

The Teacher Incentive Allotment is governed by state law, which requires districts to spend at least 90% of the allotment funds on teacher compensation at the campus where the designated teacher works. Districts may retain up to 10% to support the implementation and administration of the TIA program.

In Liberty Hill ISD, the district’s goal is to continue expanding and strengthening the TIA system so more teachers have the opportunity to earn designations in future years. The district’s 10% portion helps support the assessments, data validation, training, compliance requirements, and systems needed to maintain and grow the program.

Yes. Teachers in TIA eligible teaching assignments are required to participate in the T-TESS process during TIA data capture years, even if they would otherwise qualify to waive a formal appraisal under the district’s appraisal calendar.

Teacher observation data and student growth data are both required components of Liberty Hill ISD’s approved TIA system. The state’s validation process also reviews the correlation between teacher evaluation data and student performance data across eligible teaching assignments. Because of this, continued participation in the T-TESS process is necessary to support the integrity and ongoing approval of the district’s TIA system.

As part of the state’s TIA validation process, Texas Tech University and TEA review whether there is a consistent correlation between teacher evaluation data and student growth outcomes across the district’s eligible teaching assignments.

TIA is validated at the district system level, not the individual teacher level. If the state determines that the district’s T-TESS data and student growth data do not demonstrate a valid correlation, the district’s recommended designations for that data capture year may be denied, even for teachers who individually met the designation criteria.

TIA designations and funding are subject to state approval through the Texas Education Agency (TEA) validation process. Each year, Liberty Hill ISD submits teacher observation and student growth data to Texas Tech University and TEA for review.

If the state determines that the district’s TIA system does not meet validation requirements for a particular data capture year, the district’s recommended new designations for that year may be denied and no new allotment funding would be generated for those proposed designations.

However, teachers with previously approved and active TIA designations would continue generating funding during their active designation period, as long as they continue to meet state eligibility requirements.