Article Author name(s): Frederick M. Hess
Title of article: Spend Money Like it Matters
Title of journal: Educational Leadership
Date of publication: December 2010/January 2011
Volume of the journal: 68
Issue number of the journal: 4
Article Page numbers: pp. 51-54
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec10/vol68/num04/Spend-Money-Like-It-Matters.aspx
Intended audience: Policy makers, administrators and teachers
Key Points: Instead of being used as a threat to measure good performance, merit based pay can be used in a smart way to attract, retain and reward great teachers. Just as dentists, engineers and babysitters are able to command higher pay according to results, teachers should also be able to make such commands. Using seniority and how many academic credits have been taken is not an accurate way to gauge a teacher’s value, nor is it effective to simply offer up bonuses for teachers whose students pass standardized tests. Rethinking pay can help make employees feel valued, make the teaching profession more attractive to potential entrants, and signal that teachers are being held in a professional regard.
“One-size-fits-all” pay scales are not good either, because they either mean we pay the most effective teachers too little, or the less effective teachers too much, as it’s a certainty that some teachers will and are more effective than others in any given area.
In order to better determine which teachers may qualify for extra merit pay schools must make comprehensive lists as to what skills, behaviors and results will earn a person increased pay. Aspects that may occur on the list could be scarcity of individuals in the labor market, annual evaluation by peers, professional observations, supervisor judgment, and so forth. The obsession with student test scores interest has been an unfortunate distraction.
In order to be successful in teaching students and making determinations as to the value of teachers, administrators need to look forward in how changes can be made, not backward. The test-based merit-pay scale moves backward in rewarding past performance (or at least their students’ performance) whereas offering up merit-based pay based off of knowledge, skill, and ongoing education is more a productive way to evaluate teachers and promote student learning and understanding.
I like this. If you want a good team, you have to pay for it. I agree, the same pay for poor, mediocre or great teachers doesn't seem fair. Just like giving all your students a "B" nomatter what work they turn in. Just doesn't make sense to me and I wonder why some even consider it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sticky issue this is. I'm not sure how I feel about it all...for instance who determines the criteria for awarding merit? Somehow, in this current climate I can only imagine it coming down to rewarding teachers whose students have done well on those standardized tests.
ReplyDeleteThis is also timely given that this very morning I submitted a merit pay application to my Dean. At our last meeting we learned faculty at Pacific are now required to apply for merit pay. The news did not go over well with many of my colleagues. There is apparently data out there showing that merit pay does not increase productivity. Particular to higher ed, there was also the question of why we need a merit pay system when we already have to follow a system of promotion based on moving through the ranks of assistant, associate and full professor.