Let’s assume, for a second, that performance pay becomes a reality in schools. Teachers are paid based upon some quantitative data that suggests student learning. Whether this is an accurate metric or not is irrelevant for the question I want us to consider. With the institution of a merit/performance pay system, do districts forego the leverage to force teachers to use specific academic programs in their classrooms?
If I am being judged for my performance then it only makes sense for me to have total control over the types of instructional strategies and programs I implement to get my kids from point “A” to point “B”. This means that the decision to invest time and effort into utilizing the district’s instructional program should reside within my own discretion.
If districts want to endorse programs similar to the way that a professional sports team endorses certain companies then that’s fine. At the beginning of every year, teachers would receive a monetary allotment equivalent to the price of the district-approved program. If a teacher uses the district program, then he or she receives it free of charge and can utilize the funds to purchase other materials for his or her classroom. If a teacher does not use the program than they have to work with the money they have to outfit their classroom with the necessary instructional materials.
Two points are worth noting:
- Teachers who have a desire to utilize endorsed programs would receive them for free and improve the confidence of others in the program if they meet their performance requirements. Districts who pick the best programs would receive teacher buy-in over time based on the results that are achieved.
- Teachers would also have the option to mold their instructional practices around their own beliefs, research, and pedagogical ideologies without the use of the district-approved program. Teachers who “know what is best for kids through experience” would have the opportunity to show this without the intrusion of a system they deem ineffective.
If we are going to base a teacher’s career and livelihood on results, then those results should be a reflection of the teacher and not of the program the district believes will be the savior.
Can district administrative personnel live with that?
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What a great post! I suspect the answer to your final question is ‘no’ — districts will not live with such autonomy. But your point about the absurdity of it all is so true.
Edward Deming writing, about 14 points needed to transform management and the corporation, believed performance appraisal were counterproductive and simply bad management. In his point #3 called – Evaluation of Performance, Merit Rating, or Annual Review- and he proposed their eradication. Deming writes, “The performance appraisal nourishes short-term performance, annihilates long-term planning, builds fear, demolishes teamwork, nourishes rivalry and politics… it leaves people bitter, crushed, bruised, battered, desolate, despondent, dejected, feeling inferior, some even depressed, unfit for work for weeks after receipt of rating, unable to comprehend why they are inferior. It is unfair, as it ascribes to the people in a group differences that may be caused totally by the system that they work in.” In other words, commitment is destroyed.
It is commonly understood that performance reviews, pay for performance, and incentive systems have little to do with the motivation, but they are successful in punishing employees and rupturing relationships. Many studies point out that rewards actually undermine the very process they are intended to enhance. In agreement, Deming believed that extrinsic motivators were a fallacy. When asked the question, “Is money a motivator?” he replied, “It is not!” He believed the same applies to all forms of extrinsic motivators, they do not motivate. When it comes to intrinsic motivation the relationship between reward and motivation is more complex. For example, offering rewards for easy tasks or just completing a task may lower intrinsic motivation. It is a mistake to assume that employees are motivated in predictable ways by differential rewards and punishments.
Aaron…I am always looking for new ideas, strategies, lessons, and techniques for my teaching toolbox. So what about the teacher who wishes to “adapt, not adopt” specific programs or materials? I can think of many instructional programs that I would want to take strategies and components from without being forced into some kind of “prescriptive implementation.”
Thanks for your work!