I think, just because you are anecdotally on the high-end of the motivation/commitment ladder, doesn't mean that /all/ teachers are. Everything in life is a bell curve, after all. ;)
against. mostly on a practical level. there is no reliable and fair way to measure good teaching. test scores do not reflect a host of factors and anything else is subject to favoritism and/or bad judgement. but also on an intrinsic to the idea level. encouraging ruthless competition is not a good idea for teachers. why would i want to train a student teacher or share a really good lesson that could benefit all of my colleague's students if there is a zero sum game of bonus money? basically teaching is an entirely different paradigm than sales or billable hours.
oh, and there are totally people WAY less motivated/committed than I am. I just don't think money would necessarily motivate them more. If they wanted to work harder for more money there are plenty of other jobs they could seek out.
Re: ah, but....fiendessMarch 25 2009, 01:30:05 UTC
A merit pay structure that moved teacher salaries in to the low 6 figure range would do wonders to tempt all sorts of bright people into teaching. so would raising teachers salaries in general.
Which 45k and ironclad protection does not Those ironclad protections were hard won and are there because subjecting a system that needs stability to management whims invites disaster. I wouldn't give them up for more money. And the bright young things wouldn't stay very long without them - they probably wouldn't make it long enough to get good enough to get the merit pay. (also, i make more than 45k anyway.)
Plus with merit pay you get the possiblity of a merit system only in theory. teaching merit is neigh impossible to measure fairly and reliably. yes, that may be true of other jobs too, but that doesn't make it a feature. also, car dealership is a merit system? mortgage broker is a merit system?
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I think, just because you are anecdotally on the high-end of the motivation/commitment ladder, doesn't mean that /all/ teachers are. Everything in life is a bell curve, after all. ;)
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mostly on a practical level. there is no reliable and fair way to measure good teaching. test scores do not reflect a host of factors and anything else is subject to favoritism and/or bad judgement.
but also on an intrinsic to the idea level. encouraging ruthless competition is not a good idea for teachers. why would i want to train a student teacher or share a really good lesson that could benefit all of my colleague's students if there is a zero sum game of bonus money?
basically teaching is an entirely different paradigm than sales or billable hours.
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Which 45k and ironclad protection does not
Plus with merit pay you get the possiblity of a merit system
and then you can cut lose deadwood
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so would raising teachers salaries in general.
Which 45k and ironclad protection does not
Those ironclad protections were hard won and are there because subjecting a system that needs stability to management whims invites disaster. I wouldn't give them up for more money. And the bright young things wouldn't stay very long without them - they probably wouldn't make it long enough to get good enough to get the merit pay. (also, i make more than 45k anyway.)
Plus with merit pay you get the possiblity of a merit system
only in theory. teaching merit is neigh impossible to measure fairly and reliably.
yes, that may be true of other jobs too, but that doesn't make it a feature.
also, car dealership is a merit system? mortgage broker is a merit system?
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