Good business strategy has always been to reward top performers with pay that reflected their hard work, a practice that has not quite carried over to the education sector with the same success as other industries. Although, with the right implementation and application, merit pay for teachers could be a beneficial and sustainable tool for motivation, according to Forbes.
A common argument against merit pay for teachers was the misunderstanding that an increase in pay alone would lead to an increase in grades and student academic performance. However, supporters of incentive compensation management (ICM) structures disagree, with some saying they believe that teachers in England – who now have salary raises linked to performance – may cause American educators to take a second look, according to Forbes.
Merit pay for teachers in the US
The topic of incentive pay for teachers has been on the books since the 1980s, according to Forbes, yet has never truly come to fruition. Some of the same fears echoed in the U.K. have been heard in the states such as salaries will dissipate or that it will have little to no impact on the actual educational process.
Yet staunch supporters say there’s another reason behind continued efforts to roll out ICM structures for teachers: fairness.
“When I was a teacher I used to get frustrated when I felt somebody had moved up the pay scale and didn’t deserve it,” said Peter Kent, vice president of the Association of School and College Leaders, the group responsible for implementing merit pay in British schools, to Forbes. “School leaders want a system where people who are performing well are rewarded appropriately.”
Teachers are already evaluated on a plethora of different standards that are measured by exam results, lesson observations and more. Kent suggests a comprehensive approach to combine all these areas when budgeting for salary increases.
Performance pay in action
In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill into law in March 2011 that effectively redesigned teacher pay structures throughout the state to mirror those of merit increase plans, according to National Public Radio.
Counties within the state have the autonomy to design the general structure of the performance criteria and how that will shape salary increases, with many leaning on evaluations to help determine raises. A recent report found that 98 percent of the state’s teachers have since earned “good” reviews for their teaching abilities from students and peers, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Merit pay, when combined with an ICM software platform, helps school districts implement a seamless integration of performance motives and compensation structures.
