Merit Pay: The Worst-Case Scenario
It does seem like the national case for merit pay for teachers is picking up steam. It’s ingrained in the Aspen Commission report, it’s a consistent theme in nearly everything that comes out of Fordham, and it’s the darling of school reformers everywhere. The trick is places like Houston, where the ham-handed implementation of their merit pay system has teachers in a fury. From Education Week:
These are the stories that will be passed around like folk tales when some district here in Washington takes the leap and tries it, and these are the problems that merit pay supporters don’t have ready answers to. Why would teachers risk public embarrassment for $100? How can we distinguish between the luck of the draw and truly effective teaching when it comes to evaluating the growth of a classroom?
Houston’s superintendent didn’t help things, either, when he announced those who earned the bonuses as the cream of the crop and praised their dedication, which may well be true but also sends a message about those who did not receive the bonuses. And when the local paper publishes the name of everyone who got the bonus, it’s pretty easy (if unfair) to draw conclusions.
I read a lot about and think a lot about merit pay; maybe when I write my doctorate I’ll research it more.
In the largest district level performance pay program in the country, the Houston Independent School District for the first time doled out $14 million in staff bonuses last month. But once the Houston Chronicle published the names and awards of the more than 7,400 staff members who received the cash bonuses—ranging from $100 to more than $7,000—many people, including teachers, parents, and students, were left angered and wondering why some of their school’s most esteemed teachers were overlooked while others were rewarded.
“It’s embarrassing,” said Gayle Fallon, the president of the 6,300-member Houston Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the AFT. “We have teachers who are on ‘growth plans’—which isn’t a good thing—getting bonuses.”
These are the stories that will be passed around like folk tales when some district here in Washington takes the leap and tries it, and these are the problems that merit pay supporters don’t have ready answers to. Why would teachers risk public embarrassment for $100? How can we distinguish between the luck of the draw and truly effective teaching when it comes to evaluating the growth of a classroom?
Houston’s superintendent didn’t help things, either, when he announced those who earned the bonuses as the cream of the crop and praised their dedication, which may well be true but also sends a message about those who did not receive the bonuses. And when the local paper publishes the name of everyone who got the bonus, it’s pretty easy (if unfair) to draw conclusions.
I read a lot about and think a lot about merit pay; maybe when I write my doctorate I’ll research it more.
posted by Ryan at 3:42 PM
1 Comments:
Since "Merit Pay" is a WA Learns recommendation, and is moving in the legislature as a pilot and as a project for PESB, your thoughts would be very much appreciated.
I think, however, that we are probably at the point where we simply need to correspond. Do you agree?
jl
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