<p>I’m sure there’s a plethora of opinions on the concept of teacher pay vs test results. Any thought on this one?
A brief quote:
“Across the USA, a small but growing number of school districts are experimenting with teacher-pay packages that front-load higher salaries and offer bonuses — sometimes tens of thousands of dollars’ worth — if student test scores improve or if teachers work in hard-to-staff schools.
At least eight states are moving away from a traditional pay model, which increases salaries based on seniority and advanced degrees. Many of the pay packages are funded by private foundations. In dozens of districts, test scores already have earned teachers more money.” </p>
<p>This is where I differ from many liberals.
Our district has collective bargaining, you are paid the same whether you are a classroom teacher who never takes a sick day and catches students up on the math they didn’t learn in the previous three grades, or whether you take vacation two weeks after school starts to the east coast and announce at Open House that your class will be working on film projects this year, not math. ( my daughter had both kinds)</p>
<p>I think that areas that are hard to fill like Math/science & language teachers should be compensated for that & areas where we have more applicants should receive standard pay.</p>
<p>I also believe that those who deserve merit pay should get it- ( from district not the school- we currently have site based management where the principal writes the budget & I haven’t seen many who are capable of that)</p>
<p>The underlying assumption of proposals like this (in OP) is that students who make gains or hit the target or surpass the standard or clear the bar (etc.) do so only because of the efforts of the teacher they have during that year. And likewise, students who don’t meet achievement goals fail because of the teacher they have during that year. </p>
<p>So the teacher is thus rewarded or not…and what did or did not happen in previous years to build the students’ skills and knowledge is apparently not worth considering when rewarding outcomes, nor is the students’ effort or lack thereof, nor the parents’ involvement or indifference or simple lack of success in motivating some children despite the parents’ best efforts. </p>
<p>Using only test scores as the criterion for higher pay worries me. Too easy to cheat the system. Now, if improved test scores were used along with input from the principal, fellow teachers, and parents, that might be worth trying.</p>
<p>I think it makes sense to ‘pay for performance’ just like almost all other professions rather than the typical union method of seniority and formal degree level. Measuring the performance is the sticky point. I think test score improvements should be one of the data points but there need to be other data points as well and it needs to be relative since areas have demographics that perform lower than others but not necessarily due to the teacher. Other factors could include time spent teaching - i.e. clearly working hard and not taking unjustified ‘sick days’, extra time spent by the teacher on the job including after normal hours, feedback from the students positive or negative (from a relative perspective), major initiatives completed, etc. In short, just like the ‘real-world’ instead of the teacher union dominated world so many teachers are in.</p>
<p>In my state, our 10th graders have to take and pass a state assessment test in order to receive a high school diploma. It started with just math and english, but now this current class has to pass 4 subjects - math, english, science, and history. As a special education teacher (whose students have to take and pass the SAME test as the regular education students) - I would NEVER get a bonus if our district decided to start this practice. My students are working at a 3rd - 6th grade level in math, yet must pass the 10th grade test. Only a small percentage of our students can take an alternate assessment, and they are the ones who have multiple disabilities. My kids are making great gains - two years ago, 9 out of 14 of my 10th graders passed on the first try, and last year, 8 out of 12 passed. They are able to retake the test up to 5 more times before the end of senior year, and we offer remediation to all who need it. By June of last year, all special ed seniors passed the math and english portions of the test and were able to receive a “real” high school diploma - not just a certificate of attendance. We also offer testing accomodations such as calculator use, small-group testing, and directions read aloud to satisfy the requirements of their IEP. So, to base a “performance incentive” on the percentage of our students who pass would not really be fair, when the math teacher down the hall who teaches all honor classes has a 100% pass rate each year, and I am celebrating a 67% pass rate! This is a touchy subject with those of us in special education - LOL!</p>