What makes a teacher? Anyone can be a teacher with minimum qualifications. That is, they meet state and teacher standards, are present during school hours, and teach the assigned curriculum based on grade level.
What then, makes a good teacher? A good teacher rises above mere qualifications. A good teacher is confident, maintains a professional demeanor with colleagues, students and parents, and ensures that students comprehend the material being taught through varied assessments. A good teacher is also engaging and adaptive -meaning that if one method of teaching does not register with the students, another strategy is tried. A good teacher will observe what students have learned and retained from previous years through diagnostic assessments before the start of a new unit, and if deficiencies exist, a good teacher gets parents and administrators involved to discuss a plan of action – rather than proceeding with the planned unit and hoping for the best.
In a society that is arguing for better pay for teachers with few resources to make that happen, it seems logical to reward the good teachers without penalizing the others. In regards to Merit-based pay, barackobama.com has this to say: “Obama and Biden will promote new and innovative ways to increase teacher pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them. Districts will be able to design programs that reward accomplished educators who serve as a mentor to new teachers with a salary increase. Districts can reward teachers who work in underserved places like rural areas and inner cities. And if teachers consistently excel in the classroom, that work can be valued and rewarded as well.”
So what is wrong with this? It seems as though teachers that go above and beyond the requirements deserve to be rewarded, because let’s face it, there are those doing the bare minimum. Merit-based pay serves not only to reward good teachers, but also sets the bar to encourage all teachers to raise their standards.
This is not to say that all teachers need to be the first to arrive and the last to leave (but they should always be prepared, and if work outside of school is necessary to accomplish this, then it must be done). Teachers that do only what is required of them are not penalized, they are just not rewarded. Many schools already recognize the teachers that go above and beyond – staying late, being involved, etc. by bestowing upon them the Teacher of the Year award, merit-based teaching seems something like that, only with a monetary reward.
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3 comments:
I agree. I think that if Merit Based Pay is implemented correctly it can benefit so many people. Teachers who put in the extra effort will be rewarded and those that chose not to put in the extra effort may be motivated to improve with the possibility of being rewarded with money. This has the potential to improve the teaching in our schools and ultimately benefit the most important people, the students. As long as rewards are not based primarily on student achievement (meaning a not so talented teacher with a really smart class being paid over a really talented teacher with a not so smart class), I think a merit based system can work. It will be interesting to see how this plan is implemented in the future and it's effect on education.
I also agree. By providing incentives for the teachers, it could increase motivation for the teachers to give 110% instead of 95%. And those teachers that go above and beyond deserve to be recognized for it, but it can not be based on student achievement. In order for this to work and be "fair" for all of the teachers then there has to be another way to decide who gets awarded. I am currently in the business world (not teaching) and we get bonuses based on our yearly reviews and evaluations done by my department manager. I have to admit that I probably do work harder knowing I'll be rewarded for it!
[devils advocate]So student performance doesn't matter at all? We ought to reward just effort? Would that work for your students -- just grading on effort and not on their performance? [/devils advocate]
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