BY RICHARD KOBIH NKRUMAH MERIT-BASED PAY, A MISCONCEIVED PERCEPTION AS A MOTIVATIONAL TOOL IN TEACHING BY RICHARD KOBIH NKRUMAH

MERIT-BASED PAY Definition of merit pay Department of Labor (DOL) defines merit pay as a raise in pay based on a set of criteria set by the employer. A compensation strategy used by employers to motivate employees to perform better on the job. (Hannah, 2011) Merit pay in teaching encompasses instances in which teachers receive temporary or permanent salary increases for being more effective in the classroom (Leigh, 2012)

MERIT-BASED PAY A brief history on teacher merit pay Began in 1710 in England Canada adopted teacher merit pay in 1876 for a brief period before discontinuation in 1883 Merit pay in teaching was implemented in the USA by a school in Newton, Massachusetts in 1908, sparingly. Became rampant through the 70s and 80s especially during the Reagan administration Recently: Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT) (2006-2009) Special Teachers are Awarded (STAR), 2006 to date The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the New York City Department of Education (DOE), 2007-2010

MERIT-BASED PAY Research questions: Are teachers motivated by the idea of receiving merit pay and who is a motivated teacher? Does merit pay prevent teacher attrition?

MERIT-BASED PAY Reasons for merit pay in education (Johnson, 1984; Solmon & Podgursky, M. 2000; Buddin et. al., 2007) Job satisfaction Keeps the most the effective teachers Incentivizes higher-achieving individuals to pursue academic careers Creates a system of professionalism Teachers will show more attention to student academic and social growth

MERIT-BASED PAY Arguments against merit pay in education (Muro, 1983; Murnane & Cohen, 1986; Harris, 2007; Podgursky & Springer, 2007) Divisive and morale damaging to a teaching community Its expensive Other factors affect student performance Bias and favoritism Teachers are intrinsically motivated (Theory X employees) Output is difficult to measure

MERIT-BASED PAY Secondary data analysis Data was drawn from the School and Staffing Survey (SASS) conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the 1999/2000 academic year A random sample of 3000 data entries from 42000 cases in the SASS data was taken To measure merit pay in teaching, the dependent variable was the number of years teachers have stayed in the profession at their respective schools. Teaching years are influenced by the promise and/or the receipt of merit pay and teacher salary

MERIT-BASED PAY Results Table 1. Total number of years spent teaching Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 35.790 1 .471 .492 Within Groups 227598.207 2998 75.917 Total 227633.997 2999

MERIT-BASED PAY Analysis Table 2. The One-way ANOVA Model Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta A (Constant) 8.458 .170 49.852 .000 Merit Pay .335 .488 .013 .687 .492 a. Dependent Variable: Total Years Taught in Current School

MERIT-BASED PAY Implications Recommendations shows there is no statistical significance between teacher motivation to teach better and the promise and /or receipt of merit pay. The ANOVA shows no association between teachers been proactive and performing at their best to ensure students perform well on tests and also, grow socially. Recommendations More research and pilot programs should be carried out, but this compensation strategy for teachers should be considered in the near future.

MERIT-BASED PAY