Performance-Based Pay for Public School Teachers Essays

What are good teachers worth, and what is the best way to compensate them? Will paying teachers based on student performance increase the performance of teachers? As student test scores continue to fall, teachers are increasingly being held accountable for the performance of their students. This concern has resulted in a mounting interest and the implementation of a performance-based pay system for public school teachers. Many believe if performance-based pay works in private corporations and businesses, it should work also work for schools. Paying teachers based on student performance instead of seniority is growing in popularity, as politicians, school officials and parents desperately struggle to improve public schools.†¦show more content†¦Under a performance-based pay system, schools would use test scores, classroom evaluations, and other measures of teacher productivity to determine a teacher’s pay. The idea of pay for performance was born in England around 1710 (Salmon). Teachers salaries were based on their students test scores on examinations in reading, writing, and arithmetic (Troen and Boles). The result showed that teachers and administrators became obsessed with financial rewards and punishments; and curriculums were narrowed to include only the testable basics (Salmon). Soon art, science, and music disappeared. Teaching became more mechanical, as teachers found that repeating academic drills produced the best results. Both teachers and administrators were tempted to falsify results, and many did. The plan was ultimately dropped, signaling the fate of every merit plan initiative (Salmon). The push for performance-based pay programs resurfaced in 1950. But it had mostly failed, as districts and states didnt get buy-in from teachers, and couldnt come up with unbiased ways to measure performance (Turner). In 1999, performance-based pay was re-launched by the Milken Family Foundation. Lawmakers and education officials in many states are re-introducing the idea today (Hudson). Many feel that both teachers and schools would benefit from a new and different way to compensate and reward teachers. The process of getting a wage increase by moving up a step on the seniority-based salaryShow MoreRelatedMerit Pay For Teachers And Teachers1327 Words   |  6 Pages Merit Pay for Teachers President Barack Obama said in a recent speech that â€Å"The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens †¦ It is time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education† (Stout). His first point has become evident over time. The nations that best educate their children will have power in the future. He also mentions giving Americans a competitive education. This is referring to implementing a form of merit pay for teachers; paying bonuses to a teachers’Read MorePublic Schools And Private Public Partnerships881 Words   |  4 PagesFor years, public schools and private entities, such as religious-based schools and textbook manufacturers, through Private-Public Partnerships (PPP) have worked hand-in-hand to provide educational services (Brewer and Picus, 2014, p. 583). Regarded as a means to improve efficiency, equity, and effectiveness, privately controlled education providers have become more visible in recent years. As the demand f or specialized and higher quality educational opportunities has changed, privatization has becomeRead MoreThe Pay For Performance Plan1280 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract The pay-for-performance plan has been implemented in many organizations as a motivational strategy for workers. However, the plan remains a hard sell in public schools where teachers have deliberately turned down its implementation. Although the incentive program boosts individual performance, it undermines the effort of other staff members since; there is no universally accepted criterion that is used to gauge teachers’ performance apart from student test scores. Apparently, the lack ofRead MoreEssay about The Study of Public Administration1191 Words   |  5 PagesProfessionalism is important to understand in the study of public administration. Professionalism is a concept that describes certain types of public agencies as well as the individuals that work for these organizations. Changes in the way that these individuals are regarded may impact the way in which these administrators function. The concept of professionalism means that workers are specially trained in their field. These workers are required to possess a high level of technical expertise.Read MorePrincipals Perceptions Of Performance Pay And The Relationship Of Student Achievement1682 Words   |  7 PagesMECHANICAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Principals Perceptions Of Performance Pay And the relationship To Student Achievement By Michael G. Burchfield A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Fall 2015 The members of the Committee approve the dissertation, entitled, Principals PERCEPTIONS OF PERFORMANCE PAY AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. MICHAEL G. BURCHFIELDRead MorePerformance Based Pay : Developing Performance Oriented Principles And Encouraging People954 Words   |  4 PagesMoreover, performance-based pay is about developing performance-oriented principles and encouraging people (Tomlinson 2000). Teachers, who are not inspired by monetary rewards, can be motivated with non-monetary rewards (Odden, 2000a). These non-monetary rewards can embrace, for illustration: fulfilment from high student achievement, acknowledgment, inspiration, acquiring new skills, and personal development (Tomlinson, 2000; Odden 2000b). According to O. Harvey-Beavis (2003), an increase in teachers’Read MoreThe Mandatory Levels Of Schooling Essay1393 Words   |  6 PagesElementary, middle and high school. These are the three mandatory levels of schooling everyone must go through. A s a child of two teachers there are many subjects in the field of education I hold near to my heart or completely oppose, and performance based pay is one subject I don’t completely agree with simply because I have seen its effects first hand. Students are exhausted preparing for and taking test after test, year after year, getting graded on every little thing, and for what? So state,Read MoreThe Human Resource Administrative Procedures1595 Words   |  7 Pages1. Analyze the human resource administrative procedures in your school district and make recommendations to improve present practices. Brimley and Garfield (2012) proclaim, the expanded role of human resources is the administration of personnel: the skill of leading and managing people. They also assert, human resource administrators typically focus on the following areas: recruitment, salaries, benefits, certification, and retirement. As a result, the human resource team are people experts (BrimleyRead MoreTeacher Control System732 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Left Behind by Design: Proficiency Counts and Test-based Accountability†, Neal and Schanzenbach(2010) use data from the Chicago Public Schools to analyze how the implementation of â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act(NCLB)† affect the distribution of measured changes in achievement among students. Specifically, this paper mainly focuses on examining how the rules that accountability systems use to turn student test scores into performance rankings for schools affect teacher’s allocation of efforts among differentRead MoreBusting Unions For Figh ting Reform Policies784 Words   |  4 Pagespower of the teacher unions. He claims that teachers unions are the heart of the problem when it comes to organization and reform (Moe, 2011, p. 20). While Moe claims the NEA (National Education Association) and the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) have historically lobbied against many reform programs, including voucher programs, charter schools, and merit pay programs, there is also evidence where teachers’ unions have supported new reforms. They have introduced new charter schools and have based