Pay-for-performance as an educational reform tool is a long-running trend that continues to enjoy political popularity. In the state of Arizona, rewarding teachers for superior performance has partially manifested itself in the form of an incentive program known as career ladder. The state of Arizona first passed legislation establishing a career ladder program in 1985. Twenty-eight school districts were phased in over a nine year period. There has been no new funding appropriated for additional district participation since that time.

Due to the fact that Arizona's career ladder system rewards teachers financially for superior performance, and that improved student achievement is an embedded concept of the model, it is important to investigate the relationship between career ladder participation and student achievement. The purpose of this study, which focused on one Arizona school district, was to investigate the relationship between career ladder participation levels and student achievement. A quasi-experimental design was used to compare student achievement scores for students of career ladder versus non-career ladder teachers, as well as student achievement scores for students in Title I versus non-Title I schools. The state's standardized criterion-referenced and norm-referenced assessments were the instruments used to measure student achievement (i.e., Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards Dual Purpose Assessment [AIMS-DPA] and TerraNova). A two-factor ANOVA (analysis of variance) was conducted to compare mean scale scores and mean normal curve equivalent scores across career ladder participation levels and Title I status. Significance was reported within the context of main effects and interactions involving career ladder participation level and Title I status.

The results of the study indicate that teacher career ladder participation levels are impacting student achievement outcomes, but only when measured by the norm-referenced assessment. There is no support for teacher career ladder participation level having an impact on student achievement outcomes as measured the criterion-referenced assessment. In addition, Title I status is impacting student achievement outcomes. These findings suggest a need for further research to identify what aspects of the career ladder program are leading to differences in student achievement on criterion-referenced versus norm-referenced assessments.