Wednesday
May 23, 2007
Pay-for-performance plans have been percolating in school systems all over the country for a long time. Seems like the momentum is picking up now, at least in Chicago.
First there was this report, from a national group of teacher leaders, with recommendations on how to make merit-pay an effective tool for improving student learning.
And now, CPS announced this week that ten schools will be part of a new performance pay plan. According to the Tribune, the plan was created after the district won a $28 million federal grant to experiment with pay structures. (More of an auditory learner? Get the scoop from WBEZ!)
The schools chosen are all hard-to-staff schools with high teacher turnover, where at least 3/4 of the staff voted for the plan. In a reversal of the union’s earlier opposition to this type of proposal, even CTU president Marilyn Stewart is calling this, “a whole school reform model that is designed to improve teacher quality, maximize principal effectiveness and promote student achievement.”
CPS teachers: what’s the buzz?
Labels: Conversations
Posted by jenn on May 23, 2007 8:40 PM
I think the key factor with this program is that it encourages the kind of professional learning community in schools that will support teachers and encourage them to stay in the profession and in urban schools. It institutionalizes many ideas that many great teachers are already doing on their own, but it provides opportunities and incentives for all teachers to take part in it. It provides structure for teachers to collaborate and learn from one another.
Posted by jimpud2 on May 25, 2007 11:47 AM
Pardon my cynicism, but I worked in a school with merit pay bonuses. They were supposed to represent awards for excellent teaching, but were simply used by the principals to reward their favorites. Even though I eventually received several such increases, I knew the system was flawed and was on the team that negotiated merit pay out of the district.
I cannot determine from the various articles cited exactly how success will be determined. I gather that state standardized tests will not be used. I would really like to see the criteria for the merit pay bonuses clearly stated somewhere.
Posted by Anonymous on May 27, 2007 9:25 AM
The school where I will be teaching in the fall was considering the merit pay program. I read the entire program brochure and, in my opinion, the cons simply outweigh the pros. I think it would inevitably create a competitive environment where teachers would cease to work as colleagues, and instead become rivals. In the end, our children would be the ones paying the price.
Posted by jenn on May 31, 2007 8:27 PM
It is my understanding that there is not a limited number of merit pay bonuses, but that for every teacher who meets certain benchmarks, then s/he will receive merit pay (which is in addition to the regular salary). I don’t see it as a competition. The school is in it together. If we all improve, we all get bonuses. It’s actually another incentive to motivate one another. (Although honestly, I think most of us at the school would be doing it anyway, despite the merit pay.)
Posted by Anonymous on June 9, 2007 8:00 PM
The idea is intriguing and could work if implemented equitably. Yet it is in the implementation and maintenance that a large, burecreatic system such as CPS often fails miserably. Idea= good
Implementaion= disaster!
I hope that it does not go the way of bonuses for extra degrees, mentoring programs, etc.
It is the children that suffer when these initiatives don’t get the time and effort necessary to carry them to completion.
I’m ever hopeful but cautious.
