Gre Essay Topic

Teachers' salaries should be based on their students' academic performance.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position
The topic states that the students’ academic performances are a deciding factor of their teacher’s salary. I believe that the teacher’s salary should be independent of the performance. I have two reasons to justify this. The first one is regarding the drawbacks of both the teacher & students face. This is to in order to point out the flaws in the policy. The second is disastrous implication that would happen if the claim is put into action. In both the cases I will incorporate a situation that will provide better explanation. Firstly we should accept a fact that the students’ academic performance is based on several factors other than teaching. This includes the individual’s grasp in the basics, his interest in the subject, number of hours he studies in a day etc. Likewise, there are factors like time limit, complexity of the topic, work schedule that are not favorable to the teacher and that constrains him/her to convey the whole subject. It is hard for teacher to focus on all the students. If a teacher were to focus on improving the dull students alone, then will be time shortage in completing the remaining topics at hand which might pose a problem for the bright & average students. Sometimes it becomes important for the teacher to focus more on certain topics that are not of much relevance for the examination so that the students won’t face difficulties in the years to come. Hence we cannot simply judge the teacher’s salary based on academic performance. Next we consider the problems that are likely to happen if the claim were to be implemented. Undoubtedly, there will be increased pressure on the teachers. As a result of this, the focus will be more on completing the important topics from the exam point of view rather than trying to impart knowledge. This is against the essence of education. The attitude of the teachers Moreover there is no guarantee of a good teacher getting a good salary. For instance let’s consider a classroom which comprises of 20% bright students 60% average and 20% dull ones. If a teacher tries to explain a complex topic in a short time without leaving any details (basically a good teacher), it is likely that the academic performance of the all the students put together on that topic will not be up to the mark & hence the teacher’s pay will be low. The converse can also happen. If the valuation is very lenient then it may so happen that a bad teacher will get a god amount which he doesn’t deserve. With the two examples mentioned above wherein I have mentioned the drawbacks of the policy by taking into account, the factors that govern the students performance as well as their teacher’s situation & the effects of the claim by using an example, I would like to conclude by saying that the claim should be implemented in an ideal world where it is ensured that neither the teacher nor the students have drawbacks.