Introduction
Education is an integral concept in society, in that it is something that a vast majority of us experience in our lives. Education is also fundamental in providing people with the skills and knowledge they require to actively participate in society. Therefore, there is considerable pressure placed upon education, and teachers to empower the next generation with the skills required to further our society. This pressure leads to constant reviews and new ideas about how to better our education system. Springer and Gardner (2010) state that one recent phenomenon that has been gaining a significant amount of media attention is performance pay for teachers. Performance pay is based on the concept that teachers should be paid based on
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The ability to acquire and retain the best quality teachers has been hampered by the current tier payment scheme (Lavy, 2007). Although the tier payment scheme has been in place for a considerable amount of time it is not exempt of flaws. One issue that is apparent with this model is that it doesn’t differentiate between good and poor teachers, meaning that even the poorest teacher is paid the same as the best in their respective tier. Springer and Gardner (2010), state that there are two issues with this philosophy, one being that by failing to differentiate between quality teachers, we are to a degree failing to value student achievement. Which, Springer and Gardner (2010), support by stating that payment based on years of experience and level of education has only shown a week correlation with student achievement. In contrast studies have shown a direct link between performance pay and a higher level of student achievements (Toch, 2009). The second issue is that paying teachers based on experience rather than results doesn’t allow for quality teachers to be acknowledged and rewarded (Lavy, 2007). Toch (2009), states that this makes it harder to recruit quality educators, which subsequently can leave students with an inferior instructor. The importance of a quality educator is exemplified in a recent study conducted by Hanushek and Rivkin (2004), where it is concluded that “if a student encounters an above-average teacher for five years in a row, that could overcome the achievement gap typically found between students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches and those from higher-income
In 2010, Charlotte Danielson wrote an article, “Evaluations That Help Teachers”, for the magazine The Effective Educator. The purpose of this article was to explain how a teacher evaluation system, such as her own Framework for Teaching, should and can actually foster teacher learning rather than just measure teacher competence, which is what most other teacher evaluation systems do. This topic is especially critical to decision-making school leaders. Many of the popular teacher evaluation systems fail to help schools link teacher performance with meaningful opportunities for the teachers to reflect on and learn from in order to grow professionally. With the increased attention on the need for more rigorous student standards, this then is an enormous opportunity missed. Students can only achieve such rigorous expectations if their teachers can effectively teach them, and research has shown that teachers who are evaluated by systems that hold them to accountability and provide them for continuous support and growth will actually teach more effectively.
The first reason I agree with Matthew Miller’s “A Deal for Teachers”, is that something needs to be done about good teachers not being treated or paid right. I know many (in my opinion) great and intelligent teachers. They are working hard all the time to teach children everything they need to know. Meanwhile, they are getting paid the same as their coworkers who are doing nothing. In poor schools this might be even more important. In some cases, school might be the only place some children are getting taught important life skills, and their teachers might be the only good examples they have. I know a teacher who works in a poorer school. She’s told me about how hard it is to work at a poor school in general, with a lot of children who don’t respect teachers or adults and parents that also don’t respect the teachers. Couple that with low income and awful coworkers. If we keep giving our good teachers reason to leave by not treating them fairly, then we will never fix the problem of having so many bad teachers in our
It is a well-known fact that students entering higher education increasingly lack the academic skills necessary to succeed in their collegiate endeavors. It goes without saying that this is largely due to the widespread substandard education provided by legions of mediocre teachers—teachers who deliver shoddy instruction due to their own innately inferior academic abilities. At least, these facts are what Notre Dame Professor of Philosophy Gary Gutting would have readers of The Chronicle of Higher Education believe in his article “Why College Is Not a Commodity.” Although he makes many points that, if true, would be damning of the elementary and secondary teaching professions, Gutting stops short of proving his arguments logically or empirically. He claims today’s budding K-12 teachers often come from the bottom of the heap academically, directly leading to poor teaching—yet he provides no research to back up this connection. Furthermore, Gutting attempts to provide a solution to this so-called travesty by recommending that teaching be “professionalized,” ignoring the already-present professional practices and standards present. Gutting’s critiques, though thought-provoking, ultimately are logically and statistically unsatisfying in both their explanations of the state of teacher qualifications and in their calls to action.
Peske, Heather G., and Kati Haycock. "Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality: A Report and Recommendations by the Education Trust." Education Trust. N.p., June 2006. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
Her title, “ The Next Frontier of Education Reform” brings in readers expecting some new dramatic shift to the American education system. Something that will halt past pretences, and shove us into a new generation, where America can once again claim a top spot on the world education ranking. But these bold statements are only met with the simple idea of throwing teachers into a pure capitalist like mosh pit, where only the best emerge. She entirely focuses on the introduction of IMPACT and LEAP programs, which seek to score teachers and replace those who don’t match standards of each specific
With the low expectations of teachers, students are limited in their ability to learn. As discussed before, it is difficult to predict how well a teacher will do at their job before they begin working. This creates doubt when hiring anyone, and employers may not know if who they are hiring is the right choice. If teachers are judged by not only the basic requirements met, but also their interpersonal skills and how well they are able to teach in a positive manner, there will hopefully be less mediocre teachers hired. In the same way, both an advanced teacher and an average teacher are paid the same wages, which creates a flaw in education. Even more, there should not be average teachers in the workforce if all teachers are paid the same. Though this harms the advanced teachers, who deserve more than they earn, it also harms the students, as they are taught at a lower level by the inadequate teachers. Gladwell mentions these flaws in his article, but he also explains the traits good teachers should have, which brings a strive forward in this issue. Because of this, it is clear America must be more selective and strict when hiring
Salary schedules for public school teachers are almost a common feature in public school districts. These schedules largely determine the salaries for the teachers. A single district schedule sets the pay for hundreds of thousands of teachers in thousands of schools (Besharov 1). The key factor that influences the pay for the teachers in the salary schedules include experience in terms of years and the total number of graduate course works that a teacher has completed. This paper will look at the cons and pros of the salary schedules in terms of an economic point of view.
The most important reason public schools provide an excellent education is that teachers are required to be highly qualified and suited for the job. When asked if public schools were a wise investment for the government Barnard answered,” Yes, not every parent [very few in fact] are trained and suited to educate students”” (Barnard). In particular, they must acquire and maintain a license to teach. In order to earn this teaching certification, they must demonstrate proficiency in all basic skills, study their subject area in depth, and learn effective techniques of instructing all kinds of learners. They also are required to get on-the-job training under the guidance of an experienced teacher. They have to motivate students to learn and have a passion for teaching, maintain their license, and continue their own education and training throu...
It is no secret that college students pay absurd amounts of money in order to attend college and receive a college education. Thus, it would only make sense for students to receive this education from top professors who are experts in their field of study. In fact, in order to become a college professor, one must have the proper credentials to be considered for the position. Additionally, college professors receive their salaries which are based, among other considerations such as which school they work at, upon these credentials and average at about $68,000 per year. Finally, according to Christopher L. Brown and Stephen M. Kosovich, professors’ ratings greatly impact the enrollment in their courses (497). This means that in order to receive positive teaching reviews, they must do their part as a favorable professor. On the other hand, high school teachers are not held to this type of standard. High school students do not have to pay nearly as much as college students in order to attend their high schools. In fact, most high school students attend public high schools, which are free to attend. Although high school teachers are certified to teach, they are not necessarily experts in their field of study, like college professors are. Thus, they are not paid as much and their salaries average at around $55,000—$13,000 less than that of the average college professor. For these reasons, college professors are held to a higher standard than high school teachers, and therefore teach their students more effectively.
Some locations in the United States are trying to improve their education by adding quality teachers. A major reason why there is an achievement gap in education is because there exist a gap in teachers as well. Research has shown that teacher quality counts. Some states are seeking ways to keep quality teachers and ways to attract them. In New York City, the schools will not hire teachers that are not certified. Also, New York and California are adding some sort of incentive in public schools, to attract quality teaching to minority schools. Sometimes school add annual bonus up to $10,000 for qualify teacher to work in public school, with low achieving schools. Also, many state provide some sort of tuition assistance for teacher, but of all of the states only seven target the candidates to commit to the lower achieving schools (Olsen, 2003).
Corporations are looking for new ways to improve employee performance as well as remain competitive. Pay for performance is one method some businesses are utilizing to improve employee performance. Performance-based compensation exists when compensation is tied directly to that portion of an individual’s performance that can be effectively measured. There are a number of ways in which this may be accomplished and a number of examples as well how it is applied. One of the oldest examples is taken from the ancient Egyptians, where slaves working in the pyramids were given bread for superior performance. Payment of commission for sales production is one of the methods used today.
There is no more critical role in our current society than that of a teacher’s. Teachers help shape the minds of the future. Tomorrow 's engineers, scientists, politicians, and educators are all greatly influenced by today 's Instructors. Without teachers society would not be anywhere near where it is now, and only a select few would have access to learning. Sadly however important teachers are in human civilization, they are still drastically understated, unrecognized and under paid. Although some people may argue that performance pay is good, performance/merit pay is bad because it will result in teachers doing much less personalizing of the curriculum, and spending that time doing only what things need to teach in order to keep their student’s
A teacher take a hand, opens a mind, Touches a heart (Anonymous). High School and college teachers deserve higher pay than most opposing jobs. Some people may think if you begin to raise the hourly pay then the quality of teachers may go down. Teachers are actively working at school and at home. That is worth more than a 34,000$ annual pay (Alan).
We have to admit that humans often need incentives. For most people, money is a driving force which can inspire them to make progress (Barbieri, 52). If by performing better, you could earn more money, I think most people would gladly perform well and strive to achieve better results. Teachers are also human beings, and the vast majority of them would feel the same. Higher wages can increase the enthusiasm and motivation of teachers. At the same time, merit pay can improve teachers’ motivation, not only because of the money, but also because of a sense of accomplishment (Honawar and Olson, 26-27). When a teacher, through his or her own careful research of teaching strategies, passion, and devotion to teaching, help his or her students get better grades and is also rewarded by the schools, he or she will be filled with a sense of purpose. This will make that teacher know his or her effort is worth it, and in following lessons he or she would strive to expend even more energy and time to improving his or her teaching level and quality. Meanwhile, outstanding teachers will also become role models for other teachers who do not get bonuses. In this case, in a school, it will form a healthy competition among teachers. Everyone will be more diligent and strive to improve the level and quality of their
Strauss, Valerie. "Why teachers’ salaries should be doubled now." The Washington Post. N.p., 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. .