Cafe Classic: The Merits of Merit Pay for Teachers

Editor's Note:  In this Classic, Jim Brennan examines the perennial question of pay for performance for teachers by placing it in a framework that can help us do a readiness assessment for merit pay in this and, frankly, any environment where it is being considered.

The merits of merit pay for teachers should be discussed by experts on merit pay and pay for performance.  Politicians, parents and other interested parties all have a lot to say about the topic, but no one seems to care about the opinions of those with substantial experience in the subject.  Rather than simply listen passively to pundits whose sound bites resonate strongly but are weak in substance, why don’t we kick the subject around a bit here?

Here are some conditions generally considered necessary for the success of merit pay or performance-pay programs.

1. Performance objectives are defined, with clear output expectation standards communicated in advance.

2. Standards of performance are consistent among comparable jobs while still recognizing unique position circumstances and requirements.

3. The enterprise creates and communicates objective, valid and reliable performance measures so each employee can control their personal output measurement results.

4. Supervisors are trained in effective performance review and appraisal methods, so they can note individual output results in areas where differences are worthy of attention.

5. Supervisors accurately differentiate on the basis of validated performance and frankly but diplomatically communicate their evaluations to the subordinates.

6. Mutual trust exists between supervisors and subordinates.

7. Pay ranges are wide enough to permit significant pay differences among peers.

8. The organization has both sufficient money and adequate determination to award substantially larger pay increases to better performers.

9. Pay structures are externally competitive and internally equitable.

OK, now consider how difficult it is to accomplish any, much less all, of those prerequisite conditions in private industry where management has total control.  It is highly doubtful that most educational systems can do better than the private sector.  A quick review of those criteria will show that few schools can meet most of those demands.

Without the necessary environment to support merit pay, it cannot succeed.

Please realize that this is certainly not a comprehensive complete list of all requirements, but it happens to be a summary of the points I raised in an article with this exact same topic title over twenty-five (yes, 25) years ago.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Back then, I closed saying, “At present, the teaching environment lacks the right climate for merit pay.  Yet recognition of the steps necessary to properly reward merit in education will help bring the day closer when that ideal can be achieved.”

Being a perpetual optimist, I guess I’ll never learn.  Kick away!

E. James (Jim) Brennan, former Senior Associate of pay surveyor ERI, recently returned to consulting. Author of the Performance Management Workbook and veteran expert witness in executive compensation trials, Jim also serves on the Advisory Board of the Compensation and Benefits Review.

Image: Creative Commons Photo: "national museum of american art and portrait gallery-52" by krossbow

Comments

[Virginia]

Thank you so much for point out the conditions.Usually, it is considered important for the achievement of advantage pay or performance-pay programs.It is really difficult it is to accomplish any.Thank you such a great amount for sharing this information.
https://usawriters.org/

[Karen]

I have been a proponent of merit pay for teacher for close to 15 years now. I started my career in compensation at a private charter school company that had a pay-for-performance system for all employees, including teachers. (Apparently I like challenges.) We provided recommended increase percentages, which were based on a variety of data points, including student test scores, on Excel salary planning spreadsheets. School leaders then had the ability to change/adjust the increase percentage, if they desired, based on performance. So even if student test scores resulted in a lower calculated/proposed increase for the teacher, the school leaders could take into account if the teacher had a tough class, tough parents, etc.

A lot of the younger/newer career teachers seemed to appreciate the performance system more than teachers who had come from traditional public schools because they could be recognized for higher performance, additional efforts, etc.

I'm with you, Jim, in being optimistic that someday it will be common practice for teachers to be on merit pay systems.

[Ann Bares]

From Jim -
Thanks for the confirming feedback, Karen. I too have seen more promising results in private rather than in public schools. "Ownership" tends to be greater there, frequently due to tuition elements. The Superintendent of one of the best public school districts in one state even told me confidentially (after closing his door) that although they could "teach the test" to manipulate student achievement measures, his teachers couldn't hurt the learning experience if they tried because the parents demanded so much from their kids.

[John Dewey]

I'll just leave this here:
http://www.jamievollmer.com/blueberries.html

I'm also curious if this model of teacher compensation is used in any other countries? If so, how does(overall)student perform compare?

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/when-finnish-teachers-work-in-americas-public-schools/508685/

this article might give some insight.

[E. James (Jim) Brennan]

Thanks for two excellent relevant articles, John.

Yes, people are not cans of peas and children are not blueberries; so some of the economic principles of private business have little relevance in education. Human behavior, however, is more consistent and fairly universal, but reward practices are highly situational. My state teaching license expired and I'm unsure if the methods I found productive then would be even permitted in today's more rigidly controlled public environment. The mix of art and science is problematic, to be sure.