Valerie Strauss
"why merit pay for teachers doesn’t work"
Washington Post
March 30, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/ravitch_why_merit_pay_for_teachers_doesnt_work/2011/03/29/AFn5w9yB_blog.html?wprss=rss_educationTopic: Teacher Pay/Compensation
Another article about how merit pay for teachers is bad.
Key Points: She lists a few more references to back up her claims which are useful if you want to take up her side of the argument.
OK, it’s the same thing we have already talked about. I do agree that there is a lot to be gained by synergy or collaborative efforts but, aren’t there other awards and recognition that individuals receive and compete for? Grants, etc… Why are these things not under intellectual attack as well? If the idea is to enhance teams, why not restructure bonuses so that they are tied to a whole department at a school so say, if the test scores or whatever measure you want to use are good enough, everyone on the team gets a bonus. They keep saying “data shows” that this incentive stuff doesn’t work, but a nice bonus for a job well done sounds good to me personally, especially if it were awarded not only to me but my team. Is there anyone here who doesn’t want to be paid more and have a chance at a nice bonus? Why is that so bad and who loses? If you aren’t motivated by higher pay or bonuses…then why ask for it, expect it, or complain about low pay? Everyone should be happy right? Time to shift the paradigm of the crowd.
Relevance: Teacher compensation is an interesting topic in this community because so much of the mainstream philosophy is not profit or competition oriented. Yet, I have not sat in a teacher lounge yet where the teachers were satisfied with their pay and didn’t want more.
Doug, I like your idea about team-based rewards, and contrary to what the author believes, I think this would actually strengthen intra-grade teacher relationships and increase accountability among them. I also think the author is incorrect about most teachers who receive merit pay. She assumes teachers will lose all passion for teaching once they are turned onto financial incentive. It’s obvious teachers don’t get into the profession to make money. I believe most have already established within them a strong sense of purpose before ever beginning their career. Why would this suddenly change if they were rewarded for it? Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, those who ruin it for the rest of us. I worked for an optometrist who was only about making money. Poor patient interaction skills, just pushed them out the door as soon as the exam was finished. The point is, when people are in it from the money, it is reflected in their job performance. So in a way, merit pay can be self-regulating. We should give it a chance on a national level. It is what needs to happen if we are to learn anything from the world’s leading education systems.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of team based rewards is intriguing, but the rewards would have to be substantial enough to warrant their pursuit. Paxton brought up a very interesting point a few weeks back about colleague competition and discontent. Basically his point was that the increases accrued in the current system of merit pay are so small that they are not worth putting off your colleagues in order to pursue them.
ReplyDeleteIs it worth annoying people who you want as political allies for an extra $50-$100 a month? Not really. An extra $1000? Absolutely.
I also wrote my 14th article about raising teachers' payment. It was said that teaching in the U.S. is unfortunately no longer a high-status occupation.Thus, “Make a concerted effort to raise the status of the teaching profession” was the top recommendation. The payment to teachers is one important part to teachers' status. High payment could improve teachers' status and also new teachers' quality in teaching skills. I agree that teachers' payment should be increased. However, just increasing teachers' payment is not enough.I agree with Jeff that who really cares about raising extra $50-100 a month?
ReplyDeleteBut how do we "raise the status"? It appears to be a deep and complicated issue that poses much more difficult questions than ones of teacher compensation. The status of the teacher is essentially one of societal priorities augmented by our general lack of respect for authority.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is the proverbial problem of "damn kids these days!" etc.
I think with anything to raise awareness it starts small and it grows. It can start with students, parents, society and teachers and the movement has to make NOISE. And the theme has to change from the bad teachers to the current system and how we look at teachers. First the paradigm shifts and then the protesting begins!
ReplyDeleteThis article's author is a bit misleading since the content is attributed to Diane Ravich, author of my groups 'book club' book: Language Police. So stay tuned for more on her...
ReplyDeleteI respectfully agree and disagree with Doug. On the one hand, performance bonuses have been shown not to work (in general) if the goal is long term performance. On the other, at my previous job, everyone got a bonus at the end of the year if the company did well. The size of the bonus was directly tied to two factors, how well the company did, and your level of responsibility. The former having much more to do with the size of your bonus than the latter.
So I think there is a place for a 'department' bonus since then you get compensated for a collective goal. But that assumes school districts have pools of money for merit based bonuses, which they don't. And it also assumes there is enough money there for significant bonuses for the entire department, which there isn't.
And this doesn't help the individual teacher. Performance rewards for teachers are fraught with problems. First, (and these are only my opinions) the teacher risks losing his/her students trust if the students believe the teacher is only interested in their achievement so he/she can get a bonus. Second, if a teacher is blessed with an advanced class of bright motivated kids, how are they measured against a teacher with a class of less motivated kids? That makes the bonus more like luck of the draw.