Sunday, January 18, 2009
Editorial: Grading teachers' performance
Teachers reward students for good performance. It's time schools consider rewarding teachers.
From the RoundTable blog
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The Roanoke City School Board will be asked this spring to consider a new way of paying teachers. Teachers would be rewarded for good work rather than simply for longevity. The plan should be considered.
Performance pay is being tried in a smattering of schools nationwide, but the idea remains radical.
The board isn't talking about performance pay tied solely to student test scores -- one of the worst ideas that rises perennially in any paying-teachers-for-performance debate. Instead, a committee is developing a merit pay scale, similar to many businesses', that rewards employees for meeting individual goals that contribute to the system's success.
Roanoke still has to work out the details, but it is off to a promising start. A key to developing a fair system is to bring teachers into the process early. Roanoke has done this by inviting teachers to serve on the committee.
Currently, Roanoke teachers are paid the same way as most teachers throughout the nation. A stepped salary schedule determines pay by setting an amount for years of experience and level of education. A teacher-of-the-year is compensated the same as a teacher who does little more than take up space in a classroom.
Under the proposed system, Roanoke would determine the average teacher salary in the region and guarantee each teacher 90 percent of that amount. Teachers would earn more when the district meets its goals, when their school meets its goals and when they have met their individual goals. Annual goals would focus attention on the resources and steps employees need to achieve them.
Several issues remain to be resolved. The evaluation process needs to be better defined to specify what will be measured and how.
The plan comes with a steep price tag, perhaps $6 million, as teachers (currently earning less than market average) have the potential to earn far more. Teachers in more challenging schools might worry that, despite their best efforts, a results-oriented approach could hold them to smaller paychecks.
Hopefully by April, more details will emerge to determine if the performance-pay plan offers a way to better compensate teachers and improve the schools.
