Performance-Pay Studies Show Few Achievement Gains

Findings reinforce view that compensation plans require more work.

Nashville, Tenn.

A handful of new studies that scrutinize performance-pay initiatives nationwide have found mixed results on how they affect student achievement. That conclusion reinforces views that more work is needed on such plans, despite a recent surge in their popularity, before they can replace the traditional single salary schedule.

At a recent conference here organized by the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University, some researchers concluded that positive effects of performance-based pay were small or none, while others found varying levels of increases in student achievement.

The most positive results were reported by researchers who studied a small-scale pilot program in Little Rock, Ark., that paid bonuses to teachers for simply raising student test scores—a model some educators actually warn against because it can force teachers to...