Reward your best teachers for the great work they do!
Is your school system considering teacher merit pay? Now is the time to understand the potential benefits and pitfalls of performance-based teacher pay, as well as how today’s most successful programs were developed. Drawing on substantial research with school districts, Gary Ritter and Joshua Barnett provide a step-by-step approach to setting up a merit pay system in your school district. Readers will find
- An overview of existing merit pay programs and their strengths and weaknesses
- A review of the 12 most common myths about merit pay, and how school leaders can respond
- Six guiding principles for designing a merit pay program, along with how-to’s and timelines for every phase
- Guidance on creating balanced assessments based on multiple measures of teacher effectiveness, and developed in collaboration with teachers
Ensure that your district’s merit pay program supports teachers’ professional growth, schoolwide progress, and student achievement.
‘Ritter and Barnett bring much-needed researched clarity to this complex issue. For school administrators, education policy makers, legislators, and others interested in school reform, this book is a must-read.’
—Rod Paige, Former U.S. Secretary of Education
‘This guide is a useful resource for undertaking merit pay, preventing pitfalls, and most importantly, offering solid recommendations for creating well-designed implementations.’
—Gary Stark, President and CEO
National Institute for Excellence in Teaching
Tabella dei contenuti
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1. Introduction: Merit Pay as Educational Fad or Genuine Solution
What Is Merit Pay?
Why the Interest in Merit Pay?
What’s Wrong with the Current Salary System?
How Might Merit Pay Help?
Why is Merit Pay So Complicated?
2. Why Is Merit Pay Gaining Momentum? A Brief History
3. What Can a Merit Plan Do for Your Teachers and Students?
Evidence on Merit Pay
Studies on Teacher Attitudes
Studies on Student Achievement
Summary of Evidence
4. The Top 12 Criticisms of Merit Pay
1. Merit Pay Discourages Teaching Disadvantaged Students
2. Merit Pay Encourages Teaching to the Test
3. What About Teachers of Nontested Subjects?
4. Merit Pay Assumes Teachers Teach for the Money; They Don′t!
5. Teacher Merit Is Just Too Hard to Measure
6. Merit Pay Ratings Are Based on a Secret Formula
7. Teachers Are Already Working as Hard as They Can
8. Merit Pay Bonuses Are Too Small to Matter
9. How Is Measuring Teacher Effectiveness Supposed to Improve Instruction?
10. Merit Pay Encourages Counterproductive Competition and Discourages Collegiality
11. States Can′t Afford Merit Pay During Times of Fiscal Austerity
12. Merit Pay Is an Unproven Reform
5. Guiding Principles and Pesky Questions
Guiding Principles for Designing and Implementing a Merit Pay Plan
Principle 1: The Evaluation System Must Be Clear and Understandable
Principle 2: Consistent Communication Is Critical
Principle 3: Evaluations Should Be Based on Multiple and Thoughtful Measures of Effectiveness
Principle 4: Plans Should Actively Encourage Collaboration and Discourage Counterproductive Competition
Principle 5: Merit Pay Plans Should Be Part of a Comprehensive School Improvement Strategy
Principle 6: Merit Pay Bonuses Should Be Substantial and Meaningful
Pesky Questions
Identifying Program Participants
Measuring Teacher Effectiveness
Ratings and Rewards
6. Timelines for Program Development and Implementation
Program Implementation Timeline
Step 1: Mulling It Over
Step 2: Organizing a Merit Pay Exploratory Committee
Step 3: First Meeting With the Exploratory Committee
Step 4: Introducing the Concept to the Full School Community
Step 5: Details, Details, Details
Step 6: Finalizing and Ratifying the Plan, or ‘Rocking the Vote’
Step 7: Getting Ready to Roll Out the Plan
Step 8: Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Step 9: Checking In
Step 10: Show Me the Money
7. RAMP: Ramping Up Teacher Pay in Your School
RAMP: General Overview
RAMP: Details
Supervisor Evaluation
Schoolwide Student Achievement
Individual Classroom Achievement
Translating the Ratings Into Dollars
Closing
8. Conclusions
Finding Funding
Expectations for Your Program
Closing
Appendix A: Sample Teacher Survey
Appendix B: Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT) Teacher Survey
Appendix C: Sample Report Card
References
Index
RAMP: Applying the Principles
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