Is Merit Pay the Answer to Increasing Teacher Effectiveness?

On February 13th, Time magazine’s cover story was “How to Make Great Teachers”. The article provided some interesting methods currently being utilized to retain good teachers and support those that are challenged. One of the possibilities discussed is merit pay, which attempts to measure the quality of teachers' work and compensate teachers accordingly. Ironically (?), this is one of Mayor Bloomberg’s new initiatives for New York City Schools. New York City is currently conducting an experiment (unbeknownst to the teachers) in which about 2,500 teachers are being measured on how much they students improve on annual standardized test.

This is DANGEROUS! Proponents of this type of proposal have far too much confidence that tests can be designed year after year that are fair and equitable measures of yearly progress. Additionally, the logic behind merit pay based on standardized test scores is flawed. While research has shown that the best teachers can help struggling students catch up to more advanced students within THREE years, these proposals base a teacher’s performance on the difference in score in ONE year. Even with the most equitable test, it is nearly impossible to assess a single teacher’s impact in one year. The prospect of this type of program scares me. I envision teachers abandoning curriculum to ‘teach to the test’ or, even worse, curriculum being adjusted to meet the needs of a test to ensure that their teachers ‘make the grade’.

Instead of using bonus’ to entice educators to become more ‘effective’, why aren’t we focusing on providing the support necessary to allow them to do so? Two of the most quantifiable qualities attributed to effective teachers are knowledge of content and pedagogy. Developing these attributes in both current educators and teachers-in-training is dependent on providing EDUCATION. Why don’t we focus our resources on providing the education necessary to prepare teachers to be effective ? Other countries, such as Finland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands, provide tuition-free graduate programs to educators that include A STIPEND (and I can’t get my district to pay for more than one class a year!). Time Magazine’ “How They Do It Abroad” article concludes that “these countries made the decision to invest in a uniformly well-prepared teaching force by recruiting top candidates and paying them while they receive extensive training” (February 14th) . BINGO!

This is not to say that something shouldn’t be done with the current teacher compensation model. Merit pay based on standardized test scores is certainly not the answer. However, there are some programs being implemented that show promise. These programs involve teachers in the process of creating a model for evaluation and include more than just one measure of how teachers do their job. One of these models, Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), is now in place in 180 schools in 14 states and Washington. TAP measures teacher success by a combination of structured observations as well as a statistical analysis on student achievement based on a students’ expected trajectory. TAP teachers can progress professionally in three ways: becoming a mentor to others while remaining a classroom teacher ; becoming a full-time teacher of teachers; or taking the traditional route into administration. The most promising part of the program is the collegiality instilled in teachers who are encouraged to assist each other in building and refining their skills. TAP teachers are provided one to two hours a week during school to meet in small groups with a master teacher! Now THAT is a way to support effective teaching!