Merit Pay: A Perspective From the Classroom
By the time the state test came around last year in March, my 8th grade students groaned in disgust. All of them had already taken two other standardized tests and some had taken three. One of my brightest students even tried to stage a revolt on the third day of the five days of state testing in my classroom. "This test is so stupid. It doesn’t mean anything. We already know our high school placement. It has no effect on our future at all. Why should we even try?" I cut him off before he could go any further, hoping that his insurrectionist ideas wouldn’t infect any of my other students.
The unfortunate truth of his statements puts teachers like me in a very awkward position. I told my class that these scores would "go on their record"—which, I suppose, is true—and made sure that the rabble-rouser didn’t get another word in before I quickly started reading the testing instructions. But if I were honest with my students, I would have to say, "It’s true, you will be well into your freshman year before I even know how you did on this test, and yes, the high school doesn’t even look at these scores. So, you’re right that they have no bearing on your future, but they have quite an effect on mine. So, kids, do your best for me, okay? Take it seriously and remember what I taught you. My job and my raise depend on how you do."
Merit pay—for better or worse—seems to be the new frontier of education reform. Just last year, my district rushed to implement a new evaluation system directly linked to student achievement. Half of my evaluation is based on how my students perform. Those outside of a classroom find the idea only logical. Most believe that teachers will be motivated to work harder to get those test scores up if they know their pay depends, at least partially, on student achievement. Others say, quite rightly, that something fishy is going on if students spend a year in a teacher’s classroom and don’t show growth. The logic is sound, but the implementation...
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