Comments on: Why Merit Pay and District-Mandated Instructional Programs Don’t Jive http://synthesizingeducation.com/blog/2010/02/09/why-merit-pay-and-district-mandated-instructional-programs-dont-jive/ Working to Integrate the Past, Present, Future of Education Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:40:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Chuck http://synthesizingeducation.com/blog/2010/02/09/why-merit-pay-and-district-mandated-instructional-programs-dont-jive/comment-page-1/#comment-3296 Chuck Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:43:00 +0000 http://synthesizingeducation.com/blog/?p=324#comment-3296 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! 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!

]]> By: czander http://synthesizingeducation.com/blog/2010/02/09/why-merit-pay-and-district-mandated-instructional-programs-dont-jive/comment-page-1/#comment-536 czander Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:39:29 +0000 http://synthesizingeducation.com/blog/?p=324#comment-536 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. 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.

]]> By: Mark http://synthesizingeducation.com/blog/2010/02/09/why-merit-pay-and-district-mandated-instructional-programs-dont-jive/comment-page-1/#comment-528 Mark Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:22:56 +0000 http://synthesizingeducation.com/blog/?p=324#comment-528 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. 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.

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