Pay for Performance

Pay for Performance Education

Teachers no matter what grade level, school, or university are the educators for every degree. They develop students into more knowledgeable individuals and often at higher levels of learning teach students how to succeed in their career path. However, teachers have always been one of the most underpaid careers despite the level of importance. Most teachers, do not do it for the money since the money is hard to come by but the rewards of ‘aha moments’ and other positive outcomes in a student’s education. The rewards for teachers have often been based on the length of one’s career but recently the views have been changing and more challenging for teachers. Longevity seemed the fairest way to even out the pay scale (Delisio, 2011) until a recent shift to focus on the performance of students as a way to reward educators.

It is hard to document the performance of students because no student learns the same and there are so many outcomes for individual students. One student may have a learning disability while another may be gifted, or perhaps the teacher is in a low income area where the students are unable to get the extra help other areas or families may be able to aid in. One solution as listed on the site is basing the pay on the schools performance. In Florida where I am from they did this, where the schools bonus was based on FCAT scores but the past years score would have an effect on the amount given because the score had to be higher than the previous years. The FCAT is a standardized test which measured different subject areas such as math, reading, and science. The FCAT in my school experience though effected our education because teachers began teaching to a test rather than teaching a subject.

Another suggestion is receiving a bonus or merit pay based on goals you set that year and the achievement of these goals at the end of the year. The goals however would have to be decided by a team not just the teacher, perhaps the school district designated X amount of teachers and faculty to come up with a goal for the year based on the students coming in to that school year. Even basing the goal by grade level could aid in setting a goal; since a lower grade level has a different education than a high school student would have, since the course content is entirely different.

Before I moved to Tennessee I was attending school for a degree in Special Education and watched the stress and battles my mentors went through for their students so this topic is one that means a lot to me. Also, I am a firm believer that teachers or the instructors for all careers. Basing their pay on the achievement level of their students is out of the teachers hands at times. A teacher cannot go home with each student to make sure they get their homework done instead of playing video games all night. In order for a teacher to succeed they need the support of their faculty, the student’s parents, and even the student themselves. So many outside forces influence the success or failure of students.

Delisio, Ellen (2011) Pay for Performance: What Are the Issues? Education World the Educators Best Friend. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues/issues374a.shtml

Krysta Pappas Padm3601