Opinion
Teaching Profession Opinion

The Trouble With Pay for Performance

By Gerald N. Tirozzi, Marian Hermie & Wayne Schmidt — April 12, 2012 5 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Virtually everyone agrees that educators should be held accountable for student achievement, and pay for performance is often suggested as a method for rewarding those teachers whose students demonstrate adequate yearly progress, or AYP. The question is how to adequately and fairly evaluate a teacher’s performance relative to how it affects student achievement, and then to determine how to compensate those teachers whose students demonstrate AYP or beyond.

There is a dearth of research that supports paying teachers beyond their base salaries to improve student achievement, but there is a broad body of research that indicates that pay for performance might actually do damage as teachers feel a threat to their livelihoods because of this narrow method of measuring their efficacy. Pay for performance has been documented as compromising the good will and cooperation among teachers since it creates competition for a small amount of money, which can result in an “I’m out for myself only” attitude. Such a tone can hurt the necessary collaboration and communication found to nurture student achievement and success.

Further, what if students see no reason to perform well since their classroom grades do not reflect their individual performance on such assessments? The National Center on Performance Incentives, created during President George W. Bush’s administration, found no conclusive evidence on the power of financial awards in promoting more effective teaching and evaluating student performance, or on the long-term effect of performance awards on the supply of effective teachers.

Studies of performance pay in New York City and Chicago, as well as research conducted in Tennessee by the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University, in partnership with the RAND Corp., have echoed the findings.

As an example, let’s look at the Vanderbilt-National Center on Performance Incentives study, which took place over the 2006-07 to 2008-09 school years with volunteer participation by math teachers in grades 5-8 in the Nashville public schools. In the absence of any other incentive programs over the three-year life of the program, teachers were rewarded with bonus pay tied to student performance. The study’s central question was: “If teachers know they will be rewarded for an increase in their students’ test scores, will their student test scores increase?” Researchers found that the answer to that question is no—bonuses alone do not help teachers work harder to see their students’ scores rise.

To dangle the carrot of pay for performance in front of a group that already feels disenfranchised because of inadequate compensation and the lack of professional development seems counterproductive."

Additionally, there has been growing concern about possible cheating by teachers to ensure that their students’ test scores increase. Underscoring the seriousness of the problem, the U.S. Department of Education intends to publish a guide explaining what to look for regarding cheating in test results. Wouldn’t the funding to create and publish such a guide be better spent on professional development that would equip teachers with a deeper repertoire for teaching the students of the 21st century?

What can be done to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement?

1. Develop a multidimensional evaluation system for teachers that incorporates the many and varied components essential to accomplished teaching.

2. Fund a major initiative to maximize the use of the nearly 100,000 teachers nationwide who have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and whose expertise could be utilized in roles such as: mentors for new teachers, professional-development specialists, curriculum developers, and master-teachers supporting veteran classroom teachers. This select group of teachers represents a great and largely overlooked resource.

3. Provide significant financial resources to promote high-quality, ongoing, and comprehensive professional development for all teachers. A commitment of this kind would provide a greater national reward that would potentially affect all teachers, rather than a select few who would be rewarded under a pay-for-performance model.

Sadly, our three-point plan is not the main topic of conversation in areas where educators are often compared with the business community, particularly in terms of pay for performance. Corporate leaders insist that educators should be paid for results, just as they are. Yet business-management literature is filled with warnings about incentives that rely heavily on quantitative rather than qualitative measures. Contrary to the rhetoric from businesses, it seems that they themselves actually heed the warnings. A May 2009 Economic Policy Institute report estimates that only one in seven private-sector employees is covered by a bonus or merit plan, which accounts for just a small fraction of total compensation.

In review, business literature assails performance pay, and corporate America uses it sparingly. So, why should education adopt performance pay as a centerpiece of reform? This is dizzying logic, but at least we have some insight into the process that doled out obscene bonuses to the executives who lost billions of dollars and brought our national economy to the brink of disaster.

This is not to say that a viable and valuable method of paying teachers for what they know and can do to raise student achievement is not possible. But to dangle the carrot of pay for performance in front of a group that already feels disenfranchised because of inadequate compensation and the lack of professional development seems counterproductive.

Rather, what if we considered creating a system in which all stakeholders collaborate in the development of college training programs, performance-appraisal processes, and instruments to create ownership and commitment to effect performance appraisal focused on improved student learning?

The process should begin with teacher training in colleges and universities and carry through to a teacher’s last day of service. Through professional development, coaching, ongoing collaboration with experts in the teaching profession, and training for instructional leaders who commit to implementing an agreed-upon evaluation system with fidelity, states would be able to invest funding for education in a system that not only raises student achievement, but also attracts the best and brightest to the teaching profession.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession The National Teacher of the Year Finalists Spotlight Literacy's Power
The four 2025 Teacher of the Year finalists highlight literacy’s power to engage students and shape lifelong readers.
7 min read
The 2025 National Teacher of the Year Finalists, from left: Ashlie Crosson, Janet Damon, and Jazzmyne Townsend. Mikaela Saelua, of American Samoa, is the fourth finalist.
The 2025 National Teacher of the Year Finalists, from left: Ashlie Crosson, Janet Damon, and Jazzmyne Townsend. Mikaela Saelua, of American Samoa, is the fourth finalist.
Courtesy photos
Teaching Profession How Can Schools Get More Men to Be Teachers? Look to Nursing for What Works
More men are becoming nurses—offering some lessons for K-12 education.
6 min read
Male teacher figures winding their way down a career path to the entrance of a school.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty Images
Teaching Profession Three Tips to Help Mentors Work Better With Teachers
A great mentor can help novice teachers progress in their first year and prevent burnout. Here's how to boost their relationships.
3 min read
Illustration of a diverse group of 7 professionals helping one another climb a succession of large bars with some using a ladder.
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession Opinion The One Quality That Every Great Teacher Shares
A lot has changed during my two decades as a teacher, but one thing is just as true as it was on my first day.
Eduardo Barreto
3 min read
A man carrying a big stone. Concept art of problem solution and hardness. surreal painting. conceptual artwork. 3d illustration
Jorm Sangsorn/iStock