Performance Based Pay: Good or Bad

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Performance Based Pay Good or Bad

• Jean Benson, Maria Ekeren, Robert Flint Danelle
  Keninger

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Origins of Merit Pay

• Was born in England around 1710
• Teacher salaries were based on student test
  scores

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Merit Pay In America

• In 1969, President Nixon championed a plan called
  performance-contracting
• This plan called for teacher pay to be based on
  student performance
• The plan was eventually declared a failure
• The mid-1970-80s was the merit pay decade

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Performance Contracting Why did it fail?

• Failed to produce expected gains
• Generated damaging educational practices such as
  falsifying school records and teaching to the
  test to boost test scores
• Inability of teachers to use innovative teaching
  strategies

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Why offer Incentive Pay?

• Federal Government is supporting Merit pay by
  offering grant monies through the US Department
  of Education teacher incentive fund
• Other plans have been approved by voters willing
  to use tax money to fund initiatives

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Goals of Merit Pay

• The goal is to attract high quality teachers
• Teachers should be rewarded for the success of
  their pupils
• If students are learning at an above proficient
  level, their teachers should be rewarded

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Pros of Merit Pay

• Current pay scale encourages prolific course
  taking amongst teachers, diverting energy away
  from enhancing teaching practices
• Current pay typically provides few incentives for
  focusing course work on developing the knowledge
  and skills needed to enhance performance

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Pros of Merit Pay

• Current system discourages promising young
  teachers from remaining in the teaching force
• It takes years of experience and advanced degrees
  to move up in the pay scale
• Raises the bar of professionalism in teaching

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Pros of Merit Pay

• Rewarding quality work is a means to change the
  paradigm so that the best and the brightest are
  eager to teach
• Principals must have the authority to make hiring
  and firing decisions
• Raising pay levels are key parts of responding to
  the school-improvement challenge

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Pros of Merit Pay

• Merit pay appears to be working in North
  Carolina, Dallas and Denver schools

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Cons to Merit Pay

• Teachers are required to take coursework for
  renewal certification
• Standards should be established to award teachers
  for classes taken in their subject areas

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Cons to Merit Pay

• Even if teachers would like larger salaries, they
  typically arent money-driven
• Studies have shown that merit pay doesnt have a
  positive effect on teachers classroom work, but
  instead can have a divisive and damaging effect
  on a schools teaching community

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Cons to Merit Pay

• Rewarding teachers based on team leadership and
  mentorship is a form of compensation
• Administrative evaluations will be scrutinized by
  teachers not receiving merit pay
• A 2000 Public Agenda survey noted that
  compensations other than money are significantly
  more important to most teachers

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There is no I in TEAM

• Display loyalty
• Be generous
• Avoid internal politics
• Value interdependence over independence

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Merit Pay wont work

• Schools need to remain a community
• Collaborative effort that takes 13 years to
  complete
• All teachers, in all subject areas, are important
  to students

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What is our ultimate goal?