Merit+Pay

= Merit Pay﻿﻿ =

Danielle Mooney
=== Reward Teachers' Work with Merit Pay Link: Reward Teachers' Work with Merit Pay ===

__**Article** **Summary and Critique**__**:**
This article discussed the pros and cons of having a merit based system for teacher salaries. The argument for the pro side was that having a scholastic based system is unfair; teachers do more work and preparation than they get paid for. Teachers deserve more because they have the ability to impact and enhance a student's level of achievement. According to the article, people who are pro merit pay believe that it should be based on many factors, including test scores, which give an incentive to better the quality of teaching. With tenures, it is extremely hard to be "terminated" which creates the pro side of the article to feel that this causes teacher quality to decrease. They also feel that "unions exist only to protect the teachers and their interests." (Jones) Eliminating the tenure and unions for merit pay would increase the quality of teachers and thus the quality of education students' receive in the public school system.

The opposition to merit pay in the article is, the belief that it is absurd to say that bad teaching is the problem with public schools. The real problem is "social and economic problems facing our families, our children and our schools..." (Chaldu) In order to solve the problem of the failing school system in America, we need to use the tax money to expand the programs that are proven to work and that actually improve achievement. Non-educators who try and solve the complex problem of failing public schools with a simple solution only hinder progress. Teachers and unions know what works in a classroom; ask them how to improve the school system and actually listen. The opposition to merit pay in the article feels that student achievement is not linked to a teacher's salary (merit pay) but is linked with socioeconomic factors.

The article brings up some very valid points for both sides. The layout of the article; however, is very confusing. The article is made up of four different people's opinions with no transition between them.

**__Citations__:**
Jones, T., Chaldu, L., Smith, A., and Bird, S. (2006, Jan) Reward teachers' work with merit pay. //USA Today//, 12a. Retrieved from []

=Article Two:=

Education Next – PEPG Survey – 2010
Link: http://educationnext.org/files/Complete_Survey_Results_2010.pdf

Summary and Critique
The survey was given to 2,776 adults, including 684 public school teachers (Howell). The survey shows sharp divides between the public and teachers on issues such as Tenure and Merit Pay. On the issue of tenure, nationally 47% oppose it, while 25% favor it. Among teachers, 48% support it. When asked if the "support for the policy of basing teachers’ salaries, in part, on their students’ academic progress on tests", 70% of teachers said they did not while 40% of parents supported it.

The survey phrased many questions in political terms. For example, the full question on merit pay was "President Barack Obama has expressed support for the policy of basing teachers’ salaries, in part, on their students’ academic progress on tests?" Casting what should be completely bipartisan issues in a political light might effect how some of the respondents answer.

Citations:
Howell, W., West, M., and Peterson, P. (2011, Winter) Meeting of the minds, //EducationNext//, 11-1, Retrieved from: []

Article Three:
Leanna Arcaro

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According to recent studies, researchers believe that increasing teachers pay based on students test scores is not ideal. Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, held a study for teachers with a pay raise versus teachers who did not. They were offered bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 if their students were able to imorive thier scores on a standerized math exam. The program ran for three years and proved to show no improvement. The students in the classroom with a teacher who recieved a pay raise did not progress any faster than students whos teacher did not recieve a raise. =====

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The Nashville was studied once more in an effort to prove that merit pay does not improve student's progress. The math teachers were split into two groups. One group including 148 of Nasville's math teachers were offered a raise if their students' scores improved. Other teachers were randomly placed in a control group. The bonuses offered to the participants were equal to 30 percent of a teacher's yearly salary in Nashville, TN. 34 percent of the teachers that participated in the study recieved bonuses over the next three years. Some teachers even got a raise every year for three years. However, compared to the teachers who did not recieve a raise, students who had teachers who got a raise did not perfom any higher on exams.=====

This study hopefully will shed some light on the Obama administration and other state governments because as of now they are working on tying teachers salaries to the students progress in the classroom. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey firmly believes in merit pay and he is strongly pushing for proposing a statewide performance pay program. "I don’t believe that we should be rewarding failure," Christie said earlier this month. "That’s why I believe in merit pay."(Calefati) Merit pay is a good idea in the fact that teachers are rewarded for doing what they love to do however this recent study does not do it justice.