Merit pay is considered by many schools. It is a method of payment for performance. In education, it ties the educator’s salaries and bonuses to instructional performance and student achievement. These controversial policies are, once again, in the news.
Some politicians support merit pay for teachers, of which, bases part of their salary on student test scores. Merit pay rewards our best teachers in lieu of the current tenure system. However, others feel the idea of merit pay is demeaning and discouraging to all educators.
Presently, there are many demands put on school performance. Educators claim that improving methods, teacher quality, and achievement requires an increase of the instructional capacity of educators. That is, provide research-based programs for the needs of the students in addition to quality assessments. And, make available on-going professional development for staff.
Change doesn’t come easy in the field of education. As pay is connected to students’ test scores, it is difficult to determine how to place a value on various factors in the classroom.
• How does the teacher contribute to the learning?
• What are the various roles of each teacher in the system?
• What consistent method of supervision/observation of the teacher is used by supervisors?
• Is the location of the school – social and economic fabric a variable?
• Is teacher rank and years of experience a factor?
• Where will the base pay begin for each school?
These are only a few considerations schools must work out when considering merit pay.
Pros and Cons of Merit Pay
Advocates of merit pay state that it can be designed to encourage collaboration. And, be an aspect of performance that gets rewarded. Differentiated pay can be awarded to groups of teachers as well as to individuals.
However, collaboration will create odds with the collegial character of an effective school. Measuring a group or a person’s value and defining what it means to be ‘good’ is impossible. A classroom contains many variables that makes it difficult to place a value on a teacher or a group of teachers.
Some state that merit pay will stimulate the market for the best educators. Schools will hire the best teachers and retain the best through merit pay and bonuses. However, attracting and keeping highly qualified teachers is a costly venture that many schools cannot afford.
In a value-added system, teachers will work where scores are initially lower. This gives them room for progress. On the other hand, what if a classroom contains several academically challenged students. Can this circumstance cause an effective teacher to receive a low rating?
Possible Results
Merit pay systems will open the door to comparisons between education and business. Teaching is not a business, but a service profession. It is not only difficult, but inappropriate to compare education to business. Teachers model a process for students to work in the real world when they work in teams. It is unquestionable that the factor in determining the success or failure of a child is the classroom teacher. Mentoring novice teachers and recognizing great teachers is what makes a school excellent. Is merit pay the one and only answer to creating excellent teachers?
