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The Merits of Merit Pay: Ten Tips on Pay-for-Performance Reform
How to link teacher compensation to teacher accomplishment -- and a look at a school that makes it work.
by Laura McClure
Merit pay can sometimes seem like the third rail of educational policy: It's politically dangerous, potentially explosive, and liable to burn anyone who touches it. But now, this powerful controversy is proving to be hard to ignore as salary bonuses and peer review resurface as hot reform topics in 2008.
Pay Points
Below are ten recommendations by principals and other educators on how to implement reform and avoid catching fire:
- Make sure teachers are competing against mediocrity rather than one another. "A merit system has to incorporate a belief in teacher mentorship and teamwork," explains Hillary Miller, a former public elementary school teacher in Austin, Texas.
- Ensure that there's enough project funding in the bank to last at least five years, because a great merit-pay system a school can afford to offer for only a short time leads to disillusionment rather than hope.
- Make sure the size of the committee involved in creating the system and maintaining it is reasonable; too many voices delay decisions. (One teacher says five to seven people is a good rule of thumb.)
- "Teacher buy-in is a must," reports the Center for American Progress, in Washington, DC. In Chicago, for example, 75 percent of the teachers in a school must vote yes on a pay-structure change before the system can be instituted there.
- Judge a teacher's effectiveness using agreed-on evaluation tools, not based on how students perform on one test.
- Engage teachers in the development of an objective, rubrics-based evaluation tool. Try out the tool, and then refine and revise it.
- Offer at least 15-20 percent of base pay as a potential annual bonus. A teacher's added pay "has to be transformative," says Nínive Clements Calegari, coauthor of Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers and a member of The George Lucas Educational Foundation's National Advisory Council. "You can't offer her $500, $2,000. You have to make it worth it."
- Start with volunteers for the alternate-pay program -- especially new teachers and those with five years of experience or less -- before extending the plan to veteran educators.
- Continually offer training to new and experienced peer reviewers.
- Listen to the advice administrators and peer reviewers provide, and solicit ways to improve the program.
Where It Works
Principal Yvonne Chan with students at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center.
Photo courtesy of Yvonne Chan
One school demonstrating particular success with a merit-pay system like the one outlined above is the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, in Pacoima, California.
Vaughn, a low-scoring public elementary school in its pre-charter school incarnation, implemented many of the reform tips and went on to win numerous accolades, among them a National Blue Ribbon Schools Award. The school won the award, which recognizes outstanding public and private schools nationwide, due in no small part to changes in its teacher-pay structure.
At Vaughn, Principal Yvonne Chan has instituted a system in which teachers can earn an additional $17,000 a year in performance-based bonuses. When you consider that the average elementary school teacher makes about $45,000 a year, it's obvious that that kind of money is a big incentive. "Leaving the district was a no-brainer," says Andy Carbonell of his switch to teaching sixth-grade math at Vaughn after eleven years as an elementary school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
"My base pay at Vaughn is virtually identical to the district's," Carbonell points out. "But when you include all the possible bonuses and incentives, my salary is substantially larger."
Chan offers one last tip: "Principals and administrators must opt in first."
What teachers get paid
Submitted by Jaime Avalos Jr. A 6th Grade Student At Vaughn (not verified) on January 31, 2008 - 06:50.
I asked my teacher Andy Cabonell an he said," I make more money @ Vaughn than in the Los Angeles Unified District because teachers have a chance 2 get a $17,000 bouns." He also says," In the Los Angeles Unified District I made around 45,000
and when I add up the bouns I make a lot more."
Teacher perspectives on performance pay
Submitted by John Norton (not verified) on January 25, 2008 - 10:56.
Most of the debate about how performance-pay might be designed to improve teaching and learning has taken place without deeply engaging teachers in the discussion.
One notable exception: the TeacherSolutions report by members of the Teacher Leaders Network published last spring. The report's four pillars for incentive pay offer a nuanced approach based on the perspectives of a group of outstanding teachers who know how school really works and where incentives for change would have the greatest impact. Here's a link to the report: http://snipurl.com/tsreport
Merit Pay
Submitted by Nathaniel C Banks (not verified) on January 22, 2008 - 09:03.
As a school board member, I was going to forward this article to my Board as an "fyi", until I realized that merit pay was coming from a charter school. Since the notion of charter schools is anathema in our neck of the woods, I won't even waste my time forwarding the post. I would, however, like to comment on the "comments". I come from a community where 70% of the Black families are low income. So where do those students get "stacked"? Who is to teach them, and what should the expectations be? Based on the recent Supreme Court ruling which in effect hastens the re-segregation of our schools, they will be "stacked" where they won't affect the "normal" children and their families.
For those of us in the business of wanting all children to have a chance at success, I contend that the real 800 pound beast in the room is the notion that the public schools are in-fact, already fullfilling their mission. And that current attempts to change the system must be fought vigorously. This writer believes that there is evidence suggesting that education for the masses was never intended to actually "educate", but to prepare people for the stratified positions that they were expected to take once leaving school. Any attempt whether genuine or disengenuous proporting to materially change this paradigm must be vigorously opposed. So, even if the rather benign notion of setting a reasonable pay for service and then giving financial incentative to those who excell at providing that service is proposed, it must be fought at every point because such a notion might actually help change the order of the society. And that, unfortunately apprears to be un-American.
If nothing else, these initiatives which generate only moderate success when major overhauls and improvements are needed may at some point lead a segment of our society to push for the dismantling of public education as we know it and replacing it with people and systems who will truly educate the public, not just the affluent.
Missing some major points!
Submitted by Mercedes Ofalt (not verified) on January 21, 2008 - 18:58.
I believe that some of us are missing some key issues here - we do not HAVE to teach to the test! We can still involve the students in problem solving and creative thinking skills! In fact, I feel it should be encouraged!!!!! Those students will still be ultimately prepared for those standards-based tests if we are providing them with novel lessons and fun learning activities; however, they will also gain background knowledge and content that "teaching to the test" cannot possibly give them.
In the article, merit pay does not necessarily mean: student does well on test, teacher gets check; it should mean (in a well-run system) that there are many balanced factors put into a formula and weighed, so that all are given equal opportunities at the "prize"!
Perhaps those of you who are so ready to throw in the towel at the idea of a world where pay for performance enters into the school system, shouldn't be teaching at all! In my experience it is you who are also the ones who ARE teaching to the test and are too tired to do anything else anymore!
Merit pay school disticts
Submitted by Brandon (not verified) on January 21, 2008 - 16:46.
I'm a student at Allegheny College conducting a study on merit pay. I've been having a lot of trouble trying to find information on individual school districts that offer merit pay. If you know of a public high school that has recently adopted a pay for performance/incentive system, could you please email the name of the district and location. Thanks for the help
Brandon
skarmagedon@netscape.net
MN Schools using performance incentives
Submitted by Jake (not verified) on January 22, 2008 - 11:28.
Brandon, under a system called ATPPS (Alternative Teacher Performance Pay System), many MN public school districts now have systems in place. Off hand, you could take a look at St. Cloud, MN or Wayzata, MN. I'd search the web using ATPPS and MN or look at the state department of ed's website.
Merit pay
Submitted by WI teacher (not verified) on January 19, 2008 - 07:56.
If done correctly, I think merit pay would be awesome. We all know veteran teachers who are not effective educators. Should they be earning $40,000 more than an effective teacher with less experience?
veteran teacher and merit pay-2
Submitted by Val Pientka (not verified) on January 26, 2008 - 09:40.
ps Most of the inane decisions I have witnessed over the years have been via principals who have had little or no classroom experience themselves. They have not spent enough time in the classroom to realize it's the relationships with children that are important, not the test scores. Do I really trust that they can make an informed, rational decision with merit pay riding as an outcome for me? Absolutely not! Real teaching occurs after the glow of standardized education wears off. At some point you may experience this. By the way, define 'effective'.
merit pay and veteran teachers
Submitted by Val Pientka (not verified) on January 26, 2008 - 09:14.
"We all know veteran teachers who are not effective educators."
First of all, your rude comment is not welcomed by this very veteran teacher. Here is the piece that you will learn over the course of your career. The intrusion by misinformed and misguided politicians, administrators, parents and many others who will shape your professional destiny through their poor decisions that have important implications for not only student learning but also for your teaching conditions will seriously impact and at times unfortunately impede your success as a teacher. I have taught for 30 years and love my profession. I am a middle school art teacher and currently have 400 too many kids. My building is bursting at the seams with kids. The administration has expanded the academics, via mobiles, but has chosen to keep the same staff for non-academic courses. There is no relief in sight.
I teach a new group of students every 3, 5 and 6 weeks. This is assembly line teaching at its worst. At different points during my career, I have taught art without water and I have also taught art on a cart. Now, you tell me how this one size fits all merit pay concept could possibly effectively or fairly address my all too familiar to many situation. Until there is equity in public education, don't spout your immature beliefs my way.
Merit pay
Submitted by Paul M Bowers (not verified) on April 30, 2008 - 18:03.
Regarding statements made by Val Pientka:
Thus proving the point. Your attitude is clear- give me my money, and the heck with alternate points of view.
Are you afraid of competition? Are you afraid that you are so ineffective as an educator that even with all your hard-fought experience you somehow won't measure up? I doubt that.
Obviously, you are not being given the environment you need to teach in the style and manner you'd like. And, based on your comments, it's clearly not a positive, nurturing environment. But your comments regarding "immature beliefs" will not help your position. Personally, were I an administrator, I would not want to spend an additional nickel on a classroom taught by a teacher with that attitude.
But. I believe the time for salary based on performance is way overdue. In California, we are losing our most energetic (albeit inexperienced) teachers- some young, some older and newly arrived in the profession from the private sector because arcane union contracts demand seniority as the over-arching quality in a teacher. Forget if a teacher is good, effective kind, nurturing, experienced, a mentor- just alive, and been in the system for a long time.
Just like in the private sector, teachers can and should be evaluated by qualified managers, based on the observations *in the classroom* and a series of performance reviews. It's foolish and unfair to try to base salary on test scores, especially when so many parents undermine the teachers at every opportunity.
Yes, we all know veteran teachers who are not effective educators, and Val, I bet you know some as well. What the poster left out is that we all know plenty of fresh faced inexperienced college grads who should not be allowed in the classroom either.
Does that make my comments immature?
thanks.
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