Scrutiny for NYC Merit Pay Plan

New York City is trying a new experiment in it's schools that caught my attention: merit pay for teachers. It's receiving a lot of scrutiny from educators in the city ... and has been dubbed unfair and divisive. The big sticking point? The district wants to base merit pay on how well students perform on standardized tests.

This is a growing trend here in the U.S. and it's being encouraged at the federal level. Within the last year the U.S. Department of Education has awarded more than $75 million to districts willing to try reward-based systems.

I was curious whether this type of program was being talked about in our local school districts. It's an issue that many districts have been grappling with. How do you determine what makes a good teacher?

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that districts place a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom and districts are looking for ways to quantify a teacher's abilities.

I've been told by many area teachers that it's not being tried here. I also asked for their opinions on such plans. I wanted to know whether they thought it helped or hurt the educational process. Below are some of their responses.

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"No, our district is not considering merit pay. I do not think that there is anything wrong to give bonuses BEYOND contractual salaries for success. Many other fields offer merit pay or bonuses. Why not reward teachers who go the extra mile to reach every child, raise test scores, volunteer beyond the contractual day? We do not do it for the money. But, most of us who do it, do so because we care; we love what we do. Too often, all of the extras that make a difference go unnoticed. I do not think that the monetary value of merit pay would matter. I think it would be nice to merely be recognized for going above and beyond!"

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"I think that merit based pay may be a good incentive, however, many teachers are already going well above and beyond in and out of the classroom to assist students. There is more to the test scores than just the teacher. Parents play a huge role in education. If you do jot have parent support or if parents are allowing students to stay home for illegal absences, as a district, your hands are tied.

Also, another unfair part if this merit pay comes into play with teachers who teach un-tested subjects. There are many teachers who teach Family and Consumer Sciences, Technology, Business, Art etc. and the merit pay does not include them. Many of these classes have made it a point to infuse the academic subjects into the curriuclum (interdisciplinary) and therefore assist in rasing test scores. It also helps that most students are very interested in these areas and do very well in these classes!"

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"I think with merit based pay, teachers will be cheating on the state tests and making them invalid. Students who are below average to begin with will not be wanted in teachers classrooms. It will end up with the new teachers getting the lower ability students and the more experienced teachers getting the higher level student. What will it really show? There is so much emphasis now on students succeeding on the state tests, I can't imagine merit based pay. No one monitors how the testing is done, each teacher does it in her own room. What is to stop a teacher from "helping" her students a bit? Teachers will be 'helping' the students scores all the way to their pocketbooks."

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"Merit-based pay is a bad idea for several reasons. First, we do not get to choose our students as a teacher within a public school - we are assigned students. Some teachers are fortunate some years in getting students who tend to be more focused and higher performing.

Also, how do you define merit? Is this based on student performance, the teacher’s ability, classroom average, a school’s improvement over x time, etc…? It doesn’t take into account factors such as demographics, newer textbooks, parental involvement, administrative support (or, in some cases, lack thereof), innovative teaching methods that take several years to produce substantial results, technology, student attendance, extra curricular involvement and availability, and many other factors.

Lastly, as a non-mandated teacher, am I considered less worthy of merit than some of my peers who happen to be teaching mandated subjects?"

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"Personally, I feel very strongly that it is a very bad idea. Linking everything to test scores is a bad idea to begin with. Teacher who have an inclusion class (special education students), special education teachers, and remedial teachers may not haves students who function as high as a regular classroom teacher might have. Also, if a child doesn't get a good foundation, it puts the burden on the teachers who inherit them beginning in third grade.

Many of my students make significant gains during the course of the school year, but may not have the a high score on a standardized test. We need to look at student gains, not test scores. Also, some children are sick on test day, experience test anxiety and don't complete the tests, etc. (We have had ample tears over the years).

Finally, I just don't believe in merit pay. My dad worked at G.E. and he got paid for every piece of work (piece-work) he completed during the week. Children aren't like products, you can't "churn" them out on demand. Some students need more time to mature and engage academically. Merit pay will pit one classroom teacher against another, all the teachers will want the higher functioning students, and so on.

My personal opinion is that it will do more harm than good in the long run."

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"I understand the principle behind merit pay and on the surface it makes sense, except that there are so many factors that can affect a child's performance. Many of these factors are beyond the control of the child's teacher (innate ability, level of family support, even a temporary illness that a child might have). If the situation is, in part, beyond the teacher's control - then how can the teacher be held accountable for overall performance?"

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"I do not have a problem a performance pay for teachers. However, tying it to studnets state test performance isn't the way to go. There are so many factors outside of school that a student is influenced by. I would entertain the discussion of performance pay. However, I am quite certain unions would never entertain it. I do believe the union does alot for us in my small school district and I would have to support their decision."

TEACHER RESPONSE:

"I believe that in a perfect fantasy world, merit pay would be great. And I know that it sounds great to people who don't live in the classroom every day.

Here is the problem: if you reward teachers based on test scores, the teachers who get the best students are going to look really good. Ask any teacher... some years you get the lemonade, and some years you get the lemons. I don't mean that in a derogatory way. Last year I had a group of 5th grade students who were whizzes in math. Every new concept they absorbed quickly, and boy, did I feel like a super teacher! This year, I break into a sweat with my 5th graders as I "attempt" to teach math. Several are ADHD, many from homes with big issues, and several just plain have low aptitude. I work every magical trick I can think to get the information into their heads. Sometimes we are successful, sometimes not so much. I am working ten times as hard at teaching math this year, and I can tell you right now that the NYS Math results are not going to be very impressive. Last year another colleague had a class similar to the one I have this year, so class make ups change continually. So, test results are not a fair way to assess teacher worth.

Even comparing results from year to year is not always accurate. With the many variable in children's lives, what is happening at home really impacts their achievement in school. I have a student this year who did very well in the first quarter, but didn't do nearly as well this quarter because of a crisis at home. Another student had major issues at home during the first quarter and did not do well in school. This quarter things have settled down and he is a super star in school. Over half of my class this year has influences in their outside lives which drain them in some way or another. I wish that I could fix everything for them, but it is usually not in my power. I just try to provide them with a safe, positive place to land for 6 and a half hours a day.

The third factor in merit pay is something that I have noted in my 26 years in the classroom. Usually the teachers who toot their own horns the most are not the miracle workers. It is the quiet, steady teachers who are there because they genuinely love their students and often go many miles beyond what is expected to make their students shine. But they will not be obvious about it, so no one really notices unless they take the time to really observe."