Lauren Hannah ED 244 December 14,2011 Special points of interest:
Why is merit-based pay being implemented in today’s schools?
How will meritbased pay help our current educational system?
Will merit-based pay harm our current educational system in any way?
Are there any alternative compensation systems? Introduction
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The Issue
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Position Paper: MeritBased Pay in Education Introduction The initiative of paying teachers based on the test scores of their students, otherwise referred to as performance or merit-based pay, has become a headline in today’s educational news. Although the concept of merit-based is not a new one, it is an extremely controversial topic. With the push from No Child Left Behind to have all students showing adequate
yearly progress, some believe holding teachers more accountable with a merit-based compensation system will help students meet these achievement goals. However, a large percentage of people view merit-based pay in a negative light because they fear students will only suffer the consequences of teachers simply “teaching to the test.” In this position paper, I will
outline the background information, advantages, and disadvantages of performance pay for teachers. Then I will provide my own position on the issue and suggest an alternative compensation method.
The Issue: Teachers Now Paid Based on Student Performance Why I Chose This Topic
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A Brief History of Merit-Based Pay
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Rationale
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Consequences
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My Position
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An Alternative to Merit-Based Pay
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Sources for Further Learning
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Annotated Bibliography
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Why is a new compensation system being considered? Throughout the course of American education, many different types of compensation programs have been implemented— individual negotiation between a teacher and the school board, salary schedules, and single salary schedules. In the past decade, the United States has had another surge of frustration as students seem to be spending more and more time in the classroom, while learning less. Many blame teachers’ lack
of motivation for this plummet in student performance, and new compensation programs are now being considered in an attempt to increase student achievement. Meritbased pay is currently the most highly considered option. In this system, a portion of a teacher’s pay is determined by student test scores and or the achievement gains of the student body each year (adequate yearly progress, AYP).
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“The public education system was recast as a way to produce effective citizens, unite society, and prevent crime and poverty.” -Matthew Springer, Performance Incentives: Their Growing Impact on American K-12 Education
Why I Chose This Topic Merit-based pay is an important, while controversial, topic in education today because several states have already passed educational pay for performance laws (Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, and Texas). While the federal government is providing its own incentives to schools that will experiment with a new compensation system, each state is individually responsible for compensation reform.
because I wanted to gain a better understanding of the implications of merit-based pay so I would be wellinformed when I enter the workforce.
“Teachers will re spond to the system only when they believe the system prov ides fair, reliable, and accurate measures of their performan ce...”
This graph is a visual representation of the increased attention given to teacher compensation reform in the United States.
I chose to investigate this current educational issue
A Brief History of Merit-Based Pay tem. This report brought attention to education reform, describing how student test scores were steadily declining and American students may not be able to compete globally in the fuIn England, merit pay was ture. It suggested that a first instituted into an educateacher’s salary should betional system in 1710. In come “professionally com1908, a school in Newton, petitive, market-sensitive, Massachusetts was the first and performance-based.” American school to implement merit-based pay. After In 1983, the federal governmany decades of alternative ment actively started advocating alternative compensacompensation programs, tion systems. A team of conPresident Ronald Reagan discussed increasing teacher gressmen supported effectiveness through mone- “experimentation with pertary incentives in the 1980s. formance-related pay reform.” The Department of Furthermore, A Nation at Education distributed more Risk was written in 1983, than $2.5 million among 71 detailing the failures of the compensation reform efforts American educational sysIt is often said that history repeats itself, and that idea is no different in education. The United States is reinvestigating teacher compensation once again.
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in 31 states. Figure 1 provides data for how the federal government’s Teacher Incentive Fund is providing grants to today’s schools if they reform their compensation system. After No Child Left Behind was passed in 2001, increased attention has been given to student test scores and the yearly progress of schools. This increased focus on student test scores has resulted in a charge for compensation reform, just as A Nation at Risk encouraged in 1983. So, history really does repeat itself. The question is, now will this repeated attempt at merit-based pay in education result in a higher-achieving student population, or will merit-based pay fail once again?
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Rationale: Why Merit-Based Pay Will Succeed Merit-based pay should be adopted as a school’s compensation system because it will keep only the most effective teachers in a school, and a teacher’s effectiveness is the most influential factor in a student’s education. The strongest outcome of a meritbased system is increased teacher motivation and student performance. Teachers will take their responsibilities as an educator more seriously if their income is directly affected by the performance of their students. If teachers are paid on the basis of student performance, only the most successful educators will remain in the system. Therefore, merit-based pay will not only attract talented teachers, but it will also keep them in the educational system because those teachers will be rewarded for their superior performance. According to the Jesus Creed blog, some people believe teachers are
currently being overpaid because, in their opinion, teachers are not intelligent individuals. Blog contributors also think the work teachers perform both inside and outside the classroom is not mentally challenging. Therefore, meritbased pay is the ideal compensation system because a teacher only earns what he or she “deserves,” based on the performance of his or her students. A teacher’s level of schooling (Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, etc.) is not shown to drastically improve student performance; therefore, a teacher’s salary should not increase in conjunction with higher education. Merit-based pay eliminates any benefit for teachers who have received higher levels of education. Teacher tenure would also no longer affect teacher salary because it is the quality of instruction that results in a pay raise, not the number of years instructing.
uation fairly easily, possibly only receiving a short list of methods to improve upon. With a merit-based pay system, however, a teacher’s salary will also be affected by these yearly evaluations. Therefore, administrators and school principals conduct more thorough evaluations, which will result in improved teaching methods. American Airlines exemplifies how beneficial performance pay is. They have established a good sense of community within the organization, and strong communication between the owners and employees has resulted in increased bonuses in income for both the owners and employees. If employees reached one of the company’s customer service goals, they could receive a fifty dollar bonus each month. American Airlines' incentive program boosted worker efficiency and resulted in better customer experiences.
Finally, teacher evaluations are taken more seriously. With the single salary schedule, a teacher could pass an eval-
“Performance -based compensation
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proposed as
The Consequences of Merit-Based Pay ceptable practice, but other teachers find this offensive because they feel they should not be evaluated by a colleague who teaches a different grade “Merit pay arguments...seem to insinuate level or subject matter. The sense of that a teacher’s effort is dependent upon community within a school is also dishis or her level of compensation.” rupted because teachers become more Performance pay in schools will destroy competitive. If one teacher finds an the sense of community and collaborainnovative method of teaching a partiction among colleagues. In some schools ular concept, he will not share it with with merit pay, teachers evaluate one his colleagues, even if it will benefit the another as part of their yearly evaluastudents, because he wants his stutions. For some teachers, this is an acdents to get a higher score on the test Merit-based pay will hurt teachers, students, and the school community atlarge.
a means of m otivating teachers to hi gher levels of performance and enticing the most capable to join and re main in the profession .”
so he will earn the pay raise. Teachers will also have limited autonomy in the classroom. The heavy focus on standardized testing will cause many teachers to simply teach to the test. The rigidity of standardized testing will prevent teachers from taking chances with
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Consequences of Merit-Based Pay (continued) new instructional strategies. This new system of compensation could also negatively affect the character of some teachers. If teachers feel threatened enough by having to prepare students for standardized tests, they may look at tests ahead of time to know exactly what will be covered. Merit-based pay could create “cheating or opportunistic behavior” in teachers as they try to earn extra money. Students will suffer more than any other party in a merit-based pay system because of teachers’ limited autonomy in the classroom. Students will not receive as deep an education because teachers who simply teach to the test are only teaching their students rote memorization skills. We are preparing an entire generation to memorize, rather than think critically.
Merit-based pay will also hurt already low performing schools. New teachers will not want to work at a low performing school because teachers may fear the students will not be able to make adequate progress or perform well enough on the standardized tests. College students majoring in education will also face the consequences of a merit-based system because they could be forced to interview for student teaching positions, instead of receiving a position automatically. Teachers will not be as open to student teachers instructing their classes; allowing someone else to instruct the class jeopardizes the control the teacher has over the students’ understanding, which may result in poorer test scores. “Teacher s will res pond to system o the nly when they beli the syste eve m provid es fair, r ble, and eliaaccurate measure their per s of formanc e...”
“Do we really want high stakes tests driving our definition of education? And driving our definition of quality teaching?”
As teachers in the United States lecture through textbooks, trying to cover only the material that will be tested, students are deprived of an innovative educational experience. P o s i ti o n
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My Position I do not believe a merit-based compensation program should be incorporated into today’s schools. If we do this, we are showing we believe education to be a business transaction – I strongly disagree with this mentality. My students are not products meant to be purchased or sold; rather, it is my belief that my students are life-long learners, just as I am, and they need my encouragement and support to become the men and women they wish to be. Yes, I will be contractually obligated to teach my students mathematics – which I will do with enthusiasm each day – but I refuse to view my students as part of a business deal. Merit-based pay is not a logical way to evaluate a teacher’s performance because a student’s test scores are affected by a plethora of factors. Urie Bronfenbrenner, a RussianAmerican psychologist, introduced his ecological systems theory in 1979. This theory describes the multiple domains that impact a child’s development. For instance, a child’s development can be affected by his immediate and extended family, his parents’ places of employment, his community, his social class, the economic climate he grew up in, and more. Based on this theory, I do not believe a teacher’s pay should be linked to a child’s performance because a teacher has no control over a
child’s home situation. A child’s moral, social-emotional, and cognitive develop will directly affect how he or she will perform in school and on the standardized tests that affect a teacher’s salary. While I believe a teacher can influence these developmental areas, each child develops differently, so a teacher should not be held accountable for something they cannot control. Beyond a student’s development, teachers cannot choose the students they have in class. When merit pay systems are used in the corporate world, a salesman can select which clients he wants to work with; conversely, a teacher cannot choose to teach some students while refusing to work with other students. Whether the student has a disability, recently moved to America from a foreign country, or is a discipline problem, the teacher has to instruct the student and try to help them succeed. I also have many questions regarding the logistics of a merit-based pay system. For instance, which teachers will be compensated according to this system? Will special education teachers be evaluated the same way an English or math teacher would be? In one article I read, the author also discussed the problem that some subjects may be viewed as more difficult than others. Shouldn’t the teacher teaching the more difficult subject earn a higher salary if his students perform well? Or, if I have to teach a
remedial math class the first few years I teach, will I be measured against the same standard as my colleague who teaches the honors algebra course? I didn’t choose to educate these students—I was assigned to instruct the students who have already failed the course several times. The quotation below provides the most prominent reason I oppose merit-based or performance pay. It states that teachers will only be motivated by money – I will strive to only be motivated and held accountable by my students. I believe the joy found in learning will be jeopardized as teachers prepare students only for standardized tests, so their pay may improve. “The more direct the link between pay and performance, the greater the level of accountability teachers have to both educational administration and the public at large.” -Jean Protsik, History of Teacher Pay and Incentive Reforms
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An Alternative to Merit-Based Pay Instead of a merit-based pay system driven by student test scores, I would support a career ladder program. A career ladder program sets up a professional “ladder” which a teacher could ascend or descend. There are normally four rungs : novice, apprentice, professional, and master. Movement up or down the ladder is based on peer and principal evaluations, as well as student work evaluations—not test scores. Some form of student improvement evaluation is necessary to show adequate growth. However, this growth will not solely be determined by student test scores. As a teacher moves up the ladder, he or she is given more responsibilities at the school, such as men-
toring new teachers or planning the curriculum in addition to increased pay. I support this system because it emphasizes and supports collaboration among teachers, and I believe that will, in turn, serve the students. Also, a teacher can only move up the ladder if his or her classroom performance improves. This advancement will not necessarily be seen in students’ skyrocketing test scores, but instead could be seen by students showing greater understanding of the material through projects they have completed or a teacher successfully implementing new teaching methods in his or her classroom.
Sources for Further Learning (1983, April). A nation at risk. Archived Information. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/ pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html. Springer, M. G. (2009). Performance incentives: Their growing impact on American K-12 education. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press.
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Annotated Bibliography (2006, December/January). Urie bronfenbrenner: The man who changed how we see human development. Preschool matters. Retrieved from http://nieer.org/psm/index.php?article=136. This article outlines the ecological systems theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner. This theory states that there are many factors that affect a student’s development, which directly affects their performance in the classroom. (2007, September 18). American offers to tie pay to performance for union workers. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-09-18-aa-performance-pay_N.htm. This article outlines American Airlines’ plan to implement a pay for performance compensation system, where employees could earn pay raises based on the company’s performance. (2011, February 8). Lawmakers debate teacher merit pay bill. Indiana News. Retrieved from http:// www.theindychannel.com/news/26797101/detail.html. This news article outlines Indiana’s recent teacher compensation reform efforts. Clemmitt, M. (2011, April 29). School reform. CQ Researcher, 21, 385-408. Retrieved from http:// library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/Springer, M. G. (2009). This article describes the complexity of merit-based or performance pay in education. It provides insight into many of the different factors that make compensation reform complicated and controversial. "Credibility Key in Teacher Evaluations." St. Petersburg Times [St. Petersburg, FL] 16 Nov. 2011: 12A. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. This article describes the opposition some teachers have to peer evaluations affecting their pay; it discusses how peer-evaluations should
be effectively used as an alternative to solely determining a teacher’s salary on test scores and a principal’s evaluation. Gordon, A.A. & Kaswin, J.L. (2010, May 31). Effective employee incentive plans: Features and implementation processes. Cornell HR Review. Retrieved from http://cornellhrreview.org/2010/05/31/ effective-employee-incentive-plans-features-and-implementation-processes/. This blog post references the key features that led to the success of American Airlines’ performance pay system. Griffith, W. I., & Neugarten, D. A. (1984). Rewarding Teacher Excellence: Organizational Issues and Obstacles. Teaching Sociology, 12(1), 71-81. This article was written by two university instructors and addresses the topic of merit-based pay, specifically pay for performance, in higher education. It talks about how to make pay of performance an effective system. Sadker, D.M. & Zittleman, K.R. (2010). Reforming America’s Schools and Curriculum, Standards, and Testing In Teachers, schools, and society (pp. 172-174, 204-208). New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Protsik, Jean. (1995). History of teacher pay and incentive reforms. Washington, D.C: Office of Educational Research and Improvement. This book documents the history of compensation reform in the United States. It discusses the structure of different systems, as well as highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each system. S. McKnight. (2011, November 10).Public school teachers and their pay. Jesus Creed. Retrieved from http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/11/10/public-school-teachers-and-their-pay/. This
blog entry argues that teachers are already overpaid in todays’ current compensation program, so if compensation reform takes place it should be to pay teachers less. Springer, M. G. (2009). Performance incentives: Their growing impact on American K-12 education. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press. This book discusses different perspectives on incentive systems for teachers. The political and legal sides of incentive programs are covered, as well as current reform movements across the country. "Teacher Compensation Based on Performance Will Not Improve Education" by Part I: Reg Weaver, Part II: Dave Riegel. Education. David M. Haugen, Ed. Opposing Viewpoints® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2009. Reg Weaver, "To Boost Students and Teachers, Steer Clear of Merit Pay on the Road to Reform," Christian Science Monitor, vol. 98, November 13, 2006, p. 9. Copyright © 2006 The Christian Science Publishing Society. Reproduced by permission of the author; Dave Riegel, "The Problem with Merit Pay," The Huffington Post, August 31, 2007. Reproduced by permission of the author. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ ViewpointsDetailsWindow? displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal& catId=&documentId=GALE% 7CEJ3010129294&mode=view&userGroupName=butleru&jsid=3032db55a40f74055ea0338c273 6bff4. This article adamantly believes merit pay will not benefit education; instead, the author suggests improvements such as a better working environment and removing the political goals from the classroom will help teachers better reach students.
