[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-315003-105":59,"doc-detail-315003-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","the-effects-of-capped-piece-rate-teacher-bonuses-evidence-from-advanced-placement","The Effects of Capped Piece-Rate Teacher Bonuses - Evidence from Advanced Placement","","A study analyzes a proficiency-based incentive program that pays Advanced Placement (AP) teachers a piece-rate for each student scoring 3 or higher on the standardized exam. Using student-course-level administrative data and exploiting variation within and across teachers, the analysis finds the program raises the likelihood of an AP enrollment producing a score of 3 or higher by 2.4 percentage points. The results show no educational triage, with improvements concentrated among top scores (4s and 5s), and teacher responses vary with incentive strength and task nature.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-effects-of-capped-piece-rate-teacher-bonuses-evidence-from-advanced-placement/315003/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-effects-of-capped-piece-rate-teacher-bonuses-evidence-from-advanced-placement/315003.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"River Wang","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-13","2026-09-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",12,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How does the capped piece-rate bonus program work for AP teachers?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"North Carolina pays AP teachers $50 for each student scoring 3 or higher on the standardized AP exam, with total bonuses capped at $3,500 per teacher per academic year.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What is the estimated impact on AP outcomes from the incentive program?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"The program increases the probability that an AP enrollment results in a score of 3 or higher by 2.4 percentage points.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"Does the study find evidence of educational triage?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"No. Gains are concentrated at the top of the AP score distribution, specifically 4s and 5s, rather than around the passing threshold.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},315003,1790300933,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":145,"read_time":146,"preview_page_count":4},1099514067438,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542","EdWorkingPaper No. 26-1456  \nThe Effects of Capped Piece-Rate Teacher Bonuses: Evidence from Advanced Placement  \nMd Twfiqur Rahman  \nJohns Hopkins University  \nI study a proficiency-based incentive program that rewards Advanced Placement (AP) teachers a piece-rate for each student scoring 3 or higher on the standardized exam. Using student-course-level administrative data and exploiting both withinand across-teacher variation, I find the program increased the probability that an AP enrollment results in a score of 3 or higher by 2.4 percentage points. I further find no evidence of educational triage, as gains were concentrated at the top of the AP score distribution (4s and 5s). Teacher responses also varied systematically, indicating that the effectiveness of performance pay depends jointly on incentive strength and the nature of the task.  \nVERSION: April 2026  \nSuggested citation: Rahman, Md Twfiqur. (2026). The Effects of Capped Piece-Rate Teacher Bonuses: Evidence from Advanced Placement. (EdWorkingPaper: 26-1456). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University:  \n[https://doi.org/10.26300/4zqs-5835](https://doi.org/10.26300/4zqs-5835)  \nThe Effects of Capped Piece-Rate Teacher Bonuses:  \nEvidence from Advanced Placement ∗†  \nMd Twfiqur Rahman ‡  \nJohns Hopkins University  \nApril 13, 2026  \nAccess the latest version here.  \nAbstract  \nI study a proficiency-based incentive program that rewards Advanced Placement (AP) teachers a piece-rate for each student scoring 3 or higher on the standardized exam. Using student-course-level administrative data and exploiting both withinand across-teacher variation, I find the program increased the probability that an AP enrollment results in a score of 3 or higher by 2.4 percentage points. I further find no evidence of educational triage, as gains were concentrated at the top of the AP score distribution (4s and 5s) . Teacher responses also varied systematically, indicating that the effectiveness of performance pay depends jointly on incentive strength and the nature of the task.  \nJEL Codes: D01, I20, J33, J38, J41  \n∗ The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.  \n†I thank Daniel Kreisman, Jonathan Smith, Steven Hemelt, Vjollca Sadiraj, Tim Sass, Cade Lawson, and Brad Hershbein for helpful comments and suggestions. I am grateful to Ian Callen for his suggestions that helped improve the paper on several fronts. The paper also benefited from the suggestions and comments provided by the 2025 Southern Economic Association (SEA) meeting participants.  \n‡[Email: mrahma44@jh.edu](Email: mrahma44@jh.edu)  \n1 Introduction  \nTeacher effectiveness is widely recognized as the most important school-based determinant of student achievement and long-term success (Chetty et al., 2014; Hanushek, 2011; Jackson, 2018) . However, the traditional teacher compensation model in the U.S., based on credentials and experience, poorly correlates with teacher effectiveness and does not incentivize additional effort (Chingos & West, 2012; Hanushek, 2011) . This disconnect has spurred significant interest in performance-based compensation, rewarding teachers based on their student achievement (Bleiberg et al., 2025; Imberman, 2015) .  \nEmpirical evidence on the efficacy of these programs in the U.S. remains mixed, with studies mostly finding lack of evidence to rule out a null effect (Bleiberg et al., 2025; Dee & Wyckoff, 2015; Fryer, 2013; Fryer Jr et al. , 2022; Sojourner et al. , 2014; Springer et al. , 2016) .1 While it is debatable precisely why such muted impacts are observed, researchers commonly cite the complexity of bonus eligibility metrics and the free riding in groupbased schemes among other reasons (Fryer, 2013; Goodman & Turner, 2013; Imberman & Lovenheim, 2015; Springer et al., 2016) .  \nIn this paper, I study a novel incentive program that rewards individual teachers based on a","cbCainukvi0PkN9E","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainukvi0PkN9E","pdf",1354256,65,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction","[{\"question\":\"How does the capped piece-rate bonus program work for AP teachers?\",\"answer\":\"North Carolina pays AP teachers $50 for each student scoring 3 or higher on the standardized AP exam, with total bonuses capped at $3,500 per teacher per academic year.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the estimated impact on AP outcomes from the incentive program?\",\"answer\":\"The program increases the probability that an AP enrollment results in a score of 3 or higher by 2.4 percentage points.\"},{\"question\":\"Does the study find evidence of educational triage?\",\"answer\":\"No. Gains are concentrated at the top of the AP score distribution, specifically 4s and 5s, rather than around the passing threshold.\"}]","The Effects of Capped Piece-Rate Teacher Bonuses - Evidence from Advanced Placement | PDF",1789902536,164]