Research Paper On Merit Pay

Merit Pay for Teachers
Around the world children are taking tests that could potentially lower their grades. In some cases, those test scores may also determine how much the teachers get paid and acknowledged. It can be questioned weather or not merit pay is a productive system for the education industry. Individuals that disagree may say or believe that it will be harder to hire new staff, it lacks fairness, and question if it indicate how well the children learn. However, it is crucial that we understand that merit pay will help the teaching industry because they will be able to hire adults who are more willing and eager to teach, teachers would be more accountable for their work, and the kids with more experienced teachers will perform
better.
The first reason why merit pay is an effective system to use is because it can help hire new teachers who want to perform at their best abilities. Others may say that this salary arrangement can scare teachers away from the education field. Nevertheless, merit pay can have a positive influence on how the teachers choose to inform their class, how well the students perform, and the overall learning throughout the education industry. First, the way teachers choose to inform their classes is has a big impact on the students and in the book The Arts and the Creation of Mind by Elliot Eisner, it says “teacher can be an imaginary environmental designer and help kids gain an appetite to learn. This proves that a way of teaching can reflect on students, affecting the way kids grasp a concept. Secondly, merit pay can also influence how well the students perform and act in their classes like Jamie Davies O’leary, a senior ohio policy analyst at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, did a study and it shows 4 out of 6 schools reviewed had better test scores with the merit pay system, Jamie also says “overall positive effects on students test scores came from increased teacher effort”. This statement can show that even though merit pay is based around the teachers, it can also impact everyone else in the education industry as well. Finally, merit pay can positively increase the learning for everyone in the educational field in an article from edweek.org claims “Teacher participation in a merit pay program led to the equivalent of four extra weeks of student learning, according to a new analysis of 44 studies of incentive-pay initiatives in the United States and abroad.” This meaning that even though kids are going to school for the same amount of time, they are learning the equivalent of going to school for another four weeks. All in all, it is obvious that merit pay can increase the teacher’s joy and passion when they teach.
The second reason why merit pay is a successful paying system to have is because teachers would be held more accountable for their teaching.
Some might argue that merit pay lacks fairness. However, this method of pay will be a sufficient way to evaluate peers, give teachers a good reason to work at their best abilities, and the teachers will enjoy their career more. To begin, merit pay will help teachers take more judgement from their surroundings, like when Scholastic.com states “Teachers must be held more accountable and judged in relation to their peers,” later on in the article it also claims “Evaluation is part of being a professional”. This being, evaluation can improve each teacher’s environment, knowing what they can do better on. Next, Scholastic.com also notes, “merit pay is one of the most frequently used methods to pay an employee based on individual performance. Since merit pay is an independent system, teachers will have more time to focus on their work than worrying about others. Teachers worrying more about themselves, will have a better plan for educating their students. Finally, merit pay will help teachers gain joy in their work. For example, edexellence.net proposes “Rewarding quality work is a means to change the paradigm so that teachers are willing and eager to teach. This statement can show that rewarding teachers for their hard work will bring joy into their job. To conclude, merit pay is a successful paying system because the teachers can focus more on making their independent work the best it can
be.
The third and final reason why merit pay is a positive and efficient paying arrangement is because kids with experienced teachers are more likely to learn more than with an uninterested educator. One side can disagree and claim the merit pay theory cannot really indicate how well students learn in the classroom. Despite this, multiple studies show that merit pay increased the students awareness in the classroom, students are excited to learn, and they pay more attention to their teachers. First of all, the economist Raj Chetty from harvard, for example, has indicated that “students randomly place with more experiences teacher not only perform better on tests but earn more and save more or retirement as adults, and are likelier to go to college and or a better college”. Raj is saying that students are proving that they learn better with the experienced teachers. Second, Raj Chetty from harvard also claims “clearly, the performance of a great teacher is as crucial to success as the student’s effort to succeed”. Here mentioned, great teachers help higher the students effort in the class, giving them reason to learn. As well as paying more attention in class, the students who are giving more effort will see results in there tests scores. Last, merit pay helps hire exciting teachers, giving students purpose to pay attention to their teacher rather than off task subjects. According to the Washington Post, “A good teacher within merit pay, between the 84th percentile, can provide students with test scores with an increase between 22 and 46 percent”. The claim can prove that merit pay is giving teachers and children new opportunities to learn more things. In the end, Merit pay is a system to help students and teachers step up their abilities in the classroom.
In conclusion, merit pay is an effective way to help the educational industry be more successful. Merit pay is a salary setup made to acknowledge teachers and students hard work. Teachers may get pay raises depending on how well their students are performing. Some may believe that this will scare teachers away from the educational field, it lacks fairness, and they question whether or not this will indicate childrens growth in their classes. Despite these thoughts, it is essential to know that merit pay will help hire adults who are willing and eager to teach, the teachers will be held more accountable for their work, and kids will be performing better because of the experienced teachers.