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proud2BlibKansan

(96,793 posts)
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 07:16 PM Aug 2012

One Reason Why Merit Pay Fails

The assumption behind merit pay is that teachers are not trying hard enough.

The assumption is that a cash bonus will make them care and prod them to work harder and get those test scores up.

For 100 years, school boards at the state and local level have tried merit pay and it has always failed to produce higher test scores.

There are many reasons for this.

One is that merit pay is intrinsically insulting. It presumes that it takes a cash prize to incentivize lazy teachers.

But when there are two groups, one offered merit pay, the other not, they seem to get the same results.

That’s because the teachers in both groups are doing the best they can to get their students to learn.

As one teacher commented today:

Yup, once i’m eligible for merit pay I’ll bring out my really good lesson plans, until then, they’re staying in my desk!


http://dianeravitch.net/2012/08/05/one-reason-why-merit-pay-fails/

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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mopinko

(69,806 posts)
1. except that test scores shouldn't matter.
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 07:22 PM
Aug 2012

so, some other measure needs to be used to draw a conclusion here. college graduation rates? attendance?

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
2. I would challenge that assumption that the assumption behind merit pay relates to "trying hard".
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 07:32 PM
Aug 2012

Although, in practice, it becomes the implied relationship.

I think the pay issue is bigger than that.

I believe that merit ought not be measured against test scores.

I believe that all teachers need to be paid more and that to the extent we can fairly measure effectiveness, that there ought to be monetary and other rewards made available.

Teachers should be treated more like engineers, pharmacists, and other professionals, in matters of salary as well as in working conditions, coverage of expenses, and in many other ways.

I don't know of an instance in which a merit pay program has worked or been fair.

bluestateguy

(44,173 posts)
3. Or it would encourage teachers to find creative ways to get rid of their very worst students
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 07:41 PM
Aug 2012

Not sure how, but a devious teacher who wants that cash bonus could find ways to do it.

Starry Messenger

(32,342 posts)
4. And not all of us teach something really linear.
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 07:51 PM
Aug 2012

I'm not sure how that would work for the arts, music, etc. I just think it would turn out to be a "failure fine" for people who have different subjects.

hollysmom

(5,946 posts)
5. Merit pay is not useful because no class is a level playing field,
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 08:12 PM
Aug 2012

much like work is not a level playing field.

My B-I-L worked in a school where he was the tough guy, so he was given all the troublesome kids, he had to frisk them at the door. He let them use his pens for their cigarette packs, they had to return the pens to get the packs back. He did wonders, but these people were in the hole to begin with, he did not have many great successes, he was just glad no one got murdered in his class, especially himself.


He really should have received battle pay. But they did reward him with the computer lab, because they were too cheap to pay a computer specialist and and he had a brother and S-I-L in the business (me) to help him set things up.

Kalidurga

(14,177 posts)
6. Not too long ago when I was cashiering...
Sun Aug 5, 2012, 09:37 PM
Aug 2012

We got a bonus for pushing product. I rarely pushed the product and when I did it was yeah I have to ask you if you want this crap that is over priced and not good for you. I didn't give a flip about the bonus. Only a few people did and probably because they had to.

As for merit pay for teachers no one has a real good plan to make sure it is fair. Merit pay for students has shown some positive effects, but as far as I know, no long term studies have been done. My guess is if we really cared about students up to the point of making sure they had all their needs met, we would see some traction in the area of education. But, we really don't have a majority that care hence the problems we face.

 

SheilaT

(23,156 posts)
7. Merit pay must make sense in jobs where
Mon Aug 6, 2012, 12:26 AM
Aug 2012

some kind of added effort will result in more of something -- sales, or I don't know, something.

When I was an airline employee in the 1970's, I saw merit pay being used as a way to continue to pay women less for doing the exact same job men did. It made me a huge proponent of regular pay raises. No matter what. Unless, maybe the company was doing very badly, but in that case I want to know that upper management is also foregoing raises.

 

tk2kewl

(18,133 posts)
8. dumb winguts think all anyone cares about is the money
Mon Aug 6, 2012, 11:20 AM
Aug 2012

if it was teachers would have gone into some other line of work. for the most part they do it for the love of kids and community, and the payoff is not huge wads of cash but stability and continuity in their lives and their communities.

 

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
10. It's not just wing-nuts. Read today's NY Times lead editorial.
Mon Aug 6, 2012, 11:56 AM
Aug 2012

But, god, they are *dumb*. They literally use "Carrot and Stick" in the headline.

It's like talking to the wall. THEY think like that ( i.e. That $$$ is the only reason to get out of bed in the morning) so they naturally assume that WE do also.

I'll post it later... along w. Diane Ravitch's blog response... if no one beats me to it.

Reader Rabbit

(2,621 posts)
9. I can't even fathom how miserable merit pay would make my current school.
Mon Aug 6, 2012, 11:55 AM
Aug 2012

We already have a horrible work situation due to a number of teachers who think teaching is some kind of competitive, contact sport. Our administration encourages this, as a way to keep the staff under control. The back-stabbing and professional sabotage are insane, and these people aren't even striving for a material reward. Add a "prize" for their antisocial, counterproductive behavior?

Yikes.

LWolf

(46,179 posts)
12. I hope your district doesn't accept a TIF grant.
Tue Aug 7, 2012, 06:37 PM
Aug 2012

It REQUIRES some form of incentive/bonus pay, and a significant part of that pay has to be based on student test scores.

My district took the grant, and mine is one of the 3 schools who must deal with TIF requirements. The rest of the schools don't have to deal with those requirements, at least not yet.

The intense focus on test scores has not been healthy, to say the least.

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