In a controversial move, the mayor of New York City recently announced the “New York City public schools would immediately begin to use student test scores as a factor in deciding which teachers earn tenure.”

Instituting pay for performance can be challenging. Every sector has different considerations that can complicate the process. The Center for American Progress published a report in May that contains information on pay for performance efforts of school boards around the country.

Some of the highlights of the report include the following:
-additional pay was seen as a bonus structure above and beyond base salary
-pay for performance programs are becoming more popular and more numerous
-awarding additional pay improved the retention of teachers in challenging positions
-additional pay was offered in an effort to increase the qualifications of applicants

When asked, the teachers opinions about the programs varied. Survey results showed that
• “80 percent favored incentives for “teachers who work in tough neighborhoods with
low-performing schools”
• 58 percent supported incentives for “teachers who consistently receive outstanding
evaluations by their principals”
• 53 percent favored incentives for “teachers who specialize in hard-to-fill subjects such
as science or mathematics”
• 42 percent favored “teachers whose students routinely score higher than similar
students on standardized tests” (p. 8).

Other important factors included the years respondents had been teaching, relationship with the school administration, and the age of the students. These results may—in part—reflect the importance of trust in the system and the validity of the measures used. Perhaps also reflective of the need for a fair, valid way to measure performance, was a preference on behalf of respondents for the use of a number of measures to evaluate teacher performance (p.9).

It will be interesting to watch this program unfold and to learn from these early efforts to implement pay for performance in the educational system.

References:

Medina, Jennifer. “Mayor Says Student Scores Will Factor Into Teacher Tenure.” The New York Times [www.nytimes.com]. November 25, 2009.

Miller, Raegen and Robin Chait. “Paying Teachers for Results.” Center for American Progress [www.americanprogress.org]. May 18, 2009.