Incentive Pay: Good or Bad for Teachers?

Merit Pay Basics Definition: “Incentive pay,” or “Pay for performance” A monetary payment provided to an employee based on performance, which is thought of as one way to entice the employee to continue delivering positive results. (US Legal.com,2011.) History: Began in England in about 1710 when salaries where based on test scores Become part of Revised Education Code in 1862 and stayed on the books for 30 years Strategy “sucked the creative life” out of classrooms as teachers became obsessed with code. Dropped in 1890’s; Re-emerged early in the 1900’s but failed in schools again Estimated that 40-50% of urban school districts had merit pay plans in the 1920’s

Federal Government In the 1980’s, at least 80% of US business and federal organizations had merit pay plan systems Introduced in 2009, President Obama’s Race To the Top initiative placed almost $4.5 billion up for grabs in the merit pay arena. The federal government also promotes performance pay, particularly for high-needs schools. Through TIF (Teacher Incentive Fund), the federal government has already awarded $100 million in grants to 18 states, districts, and charter schools. TIF grants are intended to develop and implement performance pay programs that reward teachers for student achievement gains.

Around the U.S… In the spring of 2010, 44 Minnesota public school districts are participating in Minnesota’s Q Comp, which is about 13% of the districts in the state. In Texas, over $200 million is being contributed to over 200 of the state’s 1041 districts (over 19%) participating in DATE (District Awards for Teacher Excellence) as of In Florida, STAR (Special Teachers Are Rewarded) programs have awarded 25% of its highest performing teachers with a 5% performance pay bonus, equaling to over million dollars. City based initiatives in New York City, Denver, and Houston account for some of the growth in performance pay programs. About 7.9% of public school districts in 2003, and 10.2% of public schools in 2010 employ the merit pay system for their workers These large state initiatives in Minnesota, Florida, and Texas provide over $550 million in teacher pay incentives. National Center on Performance Incentives website:

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and South Carolina State Superintendent of Education, Mick Zais’ new teacher pay plan would completely overhaul the way public school teachers in our state are paid: Performance-based system, as opposed to the current system which uses a base salary and mandated upgrades for seniority or post-grad credentials Students would take tests at the beginning and end of each year to monitor academic progress by individual teachers Test results, sorted by individual teachers, would be coupled with evaluations from other key players, like teachers, principals and parents, in a complex formula that would determine a teacher’s pay Zais points to studies that show “experience only matters during a teacher’s first four years in the classroom, and postgraduate degrees and certifications don’t seem to boost student learning.”

Federal Government President Barack Obama: “Many have resisted the idea of rewarding excellence in teaching with extra pay, even though we know it can make a difference in the classroom. Merit pay could boost our economy, motivate teachers, and because the current compensation system is faulty, I stand in firm affirmation of today's resolution, which states: That merit pay based on student achievement should be a significant component of K-12 teacher compensation in United States public schools.” National Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan: “How do we get the hardest-working, the most committed teachers to the children who need the most help? We have to be more creative. Financial incentives are a piece of that, but a small piece. You need a great principal. You need a supportive community. All of us have to work together. You have to create the climate and the culture where great talent want to serve where it's most needed.”

Is Merit-based Pay Fair? Pro Better teachers should be paid more. President Obama also stated, "It's time to start rewarding good teachers, and stop making excuses for bad ones.” Marcus A. Winters argues that teachers should be paid on merit, not on seniority or titles. Con Merit pay punishes teachers assigned to “bad students.” While teachers can be incentivized, students cannot. Merit pay risks favoritism and motivates teachers to cheat on test scoring.

Does merit-based pay improve teacher quality? Pro Merit pay improves teacher and student learning. Ex: The Achievement Challenge Pilot Project (ACPP) is a five school merit pay program in Little Rock, Arkansas. Merit pay gives teachers an incentive to work harder. Con Merit pay does little to improve student achievement over the long-term. Merit pay motivates teachers to over-focus on test scores, not on learning.

Can teacher merit be accurately measured? Pro Teacher merit can be measured through value-added assessment and can help determine pay. Con Teacher merit is too hard to measure for it to be fair. Student performance does not demonstrate teacher performance. Merit pay for teachers is tied to unreliable standardized test scores.

The Final Word on Merit Pay qxysWEk8