A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay

Foreword Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors 1. Introduction: Merit Pay as Educational Fad or Genuine Solution What Is Merit Pay? Why the Interest in Merit Pay? What's Wrong with the Current Salary System? How Might Merit Pay Help? Why is Merit Pay So Complicated? 2. Why Is Merit Pay Gaining Momentum? A Brief History 3. What Can a Merit Plan Do for Your Teachers and Students? Evidence on Merit Pay Studies on Teacher Attitudes Studies on Student Achievement Summary of Evidence 4. The Top 12 Criticisms of Merit Pay 1. Merit Pay Discourages Teaching Disadvantaged Students 2. Merit Pay Encourages Teaching to the Test 3. What About Teachers of Nontested Subjects? 4. Merit Pay Assumes Teachers Teach for the Money; They Don't! 5. Teacher Merit Is Just Too Hard to Measure 6. Merit Pay Ratings Are Based on a Secret Formula 7. Teachers Are Already Working as Hard as They Can 8. Merit Pay Bonuses Are Too Small to Matter 9. How Is Measuring Teacher Effectiveness Supposed to Improve Instruction? 10. Merit Pay Encourages Counterproductive Competition and Discourages Collegiality 11. States Can't Afford Merit Pay During Times of Fiscal Austerity 12. Merit Pay Is an Unproven Reform 5. Guiding Principles and Pesky Questions Guiding Principles for Designing and Implementing a Merit Pay Plan Principle 1: The Evaluation System Must Be Clear and Understandable Principle 2: Consistent Communication Is Critical Principle 3: Evaluations Should Be Based on Multiple and Thoughtful Measures of Effectiveness Principle 4: Plans Should Actively Encourage Collaboration and Discourage Counterproductive Competition Principle 5: Merit Pay Plans Should Be Part of a Comprehensive School Improvement Strategy Principle 6: Merit Pay Bonuses Should Be Substantial and Meaningful Pesky Questions Identifying Program Participants Measuring Teacher Effectiveness Ratings and Rewards 6. Timelines for Program Development and Implementation Program Implementation Timeline Step 1: Mulling It Over Step 2: Organizing a Merit Pay Exploratory Committee Step 3: First Meeting With the Exploratory Committee Step 4: Introducing the Concept to the Full School Community Step 5: Details, Details, Details Step 6: Finalizing and Ratifying the Plan, or "Rocking the Vote" Step 7: Getting Ready to Roll Out the Plan Step 8: Gentlemen, Start Your Engines Step 9: Checking In Step 10: Show Me the Money 7. RAMP: Ramping Up Teacher Pay in Your School RAMP: General Overview RAMP: Details Supervisor Evaluation Schoolwide Student Achievement Individual Classroom Achievement Translating the Ratings Into Dollars Closing 8. Conclusions Finding Funding Expectations for Your Program Closing Appendix A: Sample Teacher Survey Appendix B: Project on Incentives in Teaching (POINT) Teacher Survey Appendix C: Sample Report Card References Index RAMP: Applying the Principles

"In place of one-size-fits-all systems of teacher evaluation and compensation, A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay helps policymakers and leaders craft systems that value clarity, communication, and collaboration. As researchers who work closely with schools and districts to improve instruction and management, Ritter and Barnett appreciate nuance and address concerns in a thoughtful and fair-minded fashion. This volume will serve as an invaluable resource to school, district, and state leaders seeking to design pay systems that will encourage innovation and reward excellence." -- Rick Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies/Resident Scholar "Performance pay for teaching has increasingly become part of the national education agenda to improve teacher quality and student outcomes. As a result, more and more states, districts, and schools are making performance pay a cornerstone of their strategy to revolutionize the way teachers are trained, supported, evaluated, and compensated. The question is: How can we start schools on the right foot to sustain performance pay over the long term? We know that performance pay systems are more likely to work when teachers are trained on the plan and support it from the outset. This guide is a useful resource for undertaking merit pay, preventing pitfalls, and most importantly, offering solid recommendations for creating well-designed implementations." -- Gary Stark, President and CEO "Current teacher compensation systems are inefficiently structured and deficient in attracting America's best graduates to teaching and retaining the best teachers. After years of different approaches and rigorous analyses, we have learned much about the performance pay debate, including what doesn't work. Ritter and Barnett provide a thoughtful and comprehensive examination of this complex topic, cutting through key issues that school leaders must address in order to establish a performance pay plan that has the best chance for success." -- Dr. Matthew G. Springer, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education/ Director "The education reform initiative referred to as teacher merit pay has unleashed a tsunami of controversy throughout the nation. Even as the issue is hotly debated, the complex elements underpinning the value and implementation of an effective model of teacher merit pay is not only little understood, more egregiously, creditable information on the issue has been, until now, limited. Fortunately, Ritter and Barnett's great book brings much needed researched clarity to this complex issue. For school administrators, education policymakers, legislators, and other interested in school reform, it's a must-read." -- Rod Paige, Former US Secretary of Education "A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay is a great handbook for anyone wanting to learn about merit pay plans and considering how to get such a process started. It is easy to read and contains lots of examples and ideas based on the experience of the authors." -- Gloria L. Johnston, Consultant and Coach "A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay examines the research and history of merit pay that is quite enlightening to those who may not know so much on the topic, as well as by those who think they know about this topic. The practical recommendations are grounded in common sense and experience. Decision makers will be delighted in the way in which the authors present this topic." -- Jude A. Huntz, Chancellor "A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay presents a thoughtfully crafted and research based investigation of how merit pay could work in a school system. For policymakers and practitioners alike, the principles for developing a merit plan in this book should reframe the merit pay debate. Moreover, school leaders will resonate with how skillfully the authors have bridged theory with practice to offer a practical guide to proposing and implementing a merit based pay system." -- John C. Pijanowski, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership "A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay is your one-stop resource for understanding the history, research, and implementation tools for establishing a merit pay program in your school or district." -- James Drexler, Dean of Education "As a former middle school principal and school superintendent, I have had 20 years of experience with performance pay in the state of Arizona. I wish I had read this book before embarking on my performance pay journey. The timelines for program development and implementation are exactly the steps I would follow if I were to begin my journey again. Congratulations to the authors for writing such an outstanding text to help the school leaders of the future." -- L. Thomas Heck, Clinical Associate Professor "Gary Ritter and Joshua Barnett give a great overview on merit pay in terms of history and the positive and negative aspects. The authors give the advantages that developing this program can have for a school." -- Gary Lee Frye, Homeless Liaison/Grant Writer "Gary Ritter and Joshua Barnett have captured and shared extensive information that provides historical background as it relates to and resulted in the current context of the public schools. A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay has helped me process my thinking through four decades in the profession." -- Douglas Gordon Hesbol, Educational Consultant and Retired Superintendent