Merit Pay, History Repeated

One of the main issues with merit pay for teachers is found in the manner in which it is measured. Most of the new performances pay laws and union contracts measure “effectiveness,” at least in part, by looking at the students’ test scores from one year to the next. One test score cannot paint a full picture of a student's accomplishment. Teachers unions have historically opposed merit pay, arguing that test scores are not an accurate measure of student achievement (Turner, 2010, para 15). Most teachers will report that a test will only show part of the picture. Standardized tests do not reflect life lessons, effective citizen traits, or character building traits that were taught that year. All of these traits thrive in an effective teacher’s curriculum.

     High school teachers’ average salary varies across the world. The United States is said to be one of the richest countries in the world, yet our teachers are being paid one of the lowest amounts. The Education Intelligence Agency, author of the article “Ohio Teacher Overcomes Union’s Tolerance” published an International Teacher Salary Report ranking the fifty states by “how much the average salary exceeded per capita personal income.” According to the Education Intelligence Agency Ohio’s percentage rate is only fifty- five point one percent. According to the Education Intelligence Agency the lowest state percentage is in South Dakota at twenty- three point six percent and the highest state percentage is

Merit pay is a short-term, pay-for-performance plan, with a typical life span of three to four years, in which employers provide rewards, usually in terms of a raise for past performance, for employees who perform their jobs effectively, which will lead to higher performing employees which will in turn lead to a better work environment and higher overall productivity. The concept of merit pay is most often mentioned in the context of educational and/or government civil service reform. With a merit-based pay system, the employer pays, with the idea that the employer will reward more productive employees with merit increases. This concept came about in an attempt to sustain high performance levels in the workplace linking merit increases, or increases in base pay, to employee performance ratings, which are taken at the end of a performance year, usually by a direct supervisor. Due to the ever increasing changes of supply and demand in business, in order to remain feasible, the merit pay system is expected to change consistently with the needs presented to the companies, whether it be foreign competition, consumer demands, producer limitations, etc.

In today’s society one of the most important factors in selecting a career field is rate of pay. No matter whether the profession maybe, the dollar figure must be within a range that allows the employee to maintain a substantial lifestyle. The debate of teacher pay scales has raged on for years. Many argue that the current pay scale for teachers is a scale which rewards teachers merely for seniority. They argue that the current pay scale overlooks those educators which demonstrate exceptional performance. Teacher merit pay systems have been the most popular suggestions made to remedy the problems seen with the current pay scale. Although the current pay scale may not be completely effective, the idea of

The first problem arises with the nature of merit. Merit can be defined differently for each individual, so how can the standard for reward be defined? Is a sense

Teachers have and will always have a big impact in everyone’s life and if not everyone, well, at least they did for me. They teach you everything you need to know about a subject and valuable life lessons, so why are they not paid sufficiently enough to make a decent living? Teachers salaries have always been low and I believe it is the time that changes. Being a lawyer, doctor, or engineer is great, but none of that would be possible without the insight of a teacher, I will inform you in this paper on why I believe there is a need for action. I will go over the background of teacher’s salaries, my ideas on what would be best for teachers not just in Texas, but nationwide, and pros and cons on the issues and ideas at hand.

Performance based compensation forces teachers to work harder for more pay, but the extra pay is often not sufficient for the extra work required (Arthur, 2017.) With Merit Pay compensation employees are only focused on the results and not on the means by which these results are achieved (Arthur, 2017.) When employees are worried that they will not get a paycheck or that they may not be able to pay their bills unless performance is up, it can sometimes negatively affect performance (Admin, 2000.) Some employees do not work well under pressure , and this can have a negative effect on the company overall (Freakonomics, 2011.) Also professionalization, raising salaries and creating expanded roles for teachers adds to an already demanding schedule (Freakonomics,

Pay for performance systems have further been proven to have two advantages for organizations: attracting more high-quality employees and motivating employees to exert more effort at their jobs. (Gordon, Kaswin) This paper will show the positive benefits of performance pay as

However, if merit pay is in place, standardized testing becomes the ultimate measure of a teacher’s worth. With merit pay, scores become the marker of student success. Furthermore, merit pay could increase unfair competition

With beginning teachers usually earning entirely less than other college graduates, the profession is at loss of top-notch, quality people who tend to find jobs seeking more money. Almost 50 percent leave the profession within 5 years, lured by higher pay and prestige elsewhere in the booming U.S. economy (World, 1999, par. 7). Starting teachers average a $25,735 salary in the United States compared to an engineer earning $56,820 or a physical therapist earning $56,600 (Engineer, 2000, par.1). And what signal does it send out about the value of good teachers and a good education when a 45-year-old teacher with a master’s degree earns $45,000 a year and a 25-year-old out of law school often starts at $80,000, considering a six year education for a master’s degree and a seven year education for a law degree (Greenhouse, 2002, par. 4)? A teacher is also given no compensation for the long hours spent basically in overtime work. The teacher’s day does not end when they leave school because if lesson plans, grading, or planning is not completed, it will have to be finished on their own time. Accountants, paralegals, and engineers all are compensated and get paid overtime for work that does not get completed in a regular day or if they want to stay and

Recognizing and rewarding high-performance is a key recommendation for any approach when managing any merit pay program (HRIS 2012). Merit pay is a compensation system where base pay increases and is determined by an individual’s performance. Using a merit pay plan is a good way for an organization to reward high performance is one benefit when using merit pay programs. The first step in implementing or improving a merit pay program is to have a solid performance management program, and this is another way a merit pay program is beneficial. Merit pay is a way to be successful and effectively implement merit pay with a uplift in salaries, and this is a third way using a merit pay program is beneficial to an organization. There are some drawbacks when using merit pay programs, such as paying some employees more than others. If you pay high-performing workers more than low- performing employees, the high- performers may stay, causing the low- performers to complain or leave the organization. A second drawback in using merit pay program is that employees become less motivated if not paid to their satisfaction. For example, if employees feel they should be making more money for their performance, this causes them to have low self esteem, and want to find employment at other organization. The last drawback associated with

The question I would like to research is the feasibility of merit-based compensation in the public sector: opportunities and limitations. I would like to explore merit-based compensation systems in public organizations, their effect on performance and motivation of employees, and analyze the factors that may provide limitations to the performance-based compensation in the public sector.

For my current organization, our compensation packages are relatively better than the average compensation within our region when compared with our marketers within my under (salary.com) and (Scdew.gov). While the compensation ranks higher than average, there are a few factors that make up the methods of setting bonuses, compensation(s), and merit(s). We discuss bonuses, annual merits, and compensation on the effects of the organization annual operating costs. The effects that an organization feels as it offers increases and finally the alternatives that can be implemented as an improvement.

Our district is constantly changing the way they evaluate teachers. This year, all teachers attended a mandatory PD session on our new evaluation system. One of the biggest difference for this year, is that we will be using student tests scores as part of our evaluation. Another change will be that teachers are now going to be picking two student growth objects to focus on, and two professional development growth plans. This current system is very aligned to what Robert Marzo suggested in his article on the two purposes of teacher evaluation. Our new evaluation system will put teacher growth and student growth on top of the system. Principals will use the evaluation system to help teachers grow and focus on goals.

The purpose of this paper is to review an article published by Reeika Irs that focuses on education assessment involving performance management and appraisal as well as pay for performance in the Estonian education sector. The title of the article is “Pay-for-performance in Estonian general educational schools: the situation for further development.” This title is clear and appropriate. The article was written and received on September 07, 2009, revised on November 02, 2010 and finally accepted for publication on July12, 2011.The article runs from pages 302 to 332. Therefore the article is a 30-page document that outlines the performance of schools in Estonia by considering the adoption and implementation of pay-for- performance system (Canning, Godfrey, & Holzer-Zelazewska, 2007).