Student Pay

Generally speaking, educational services provided by teachers are some of the main ingredients for student achievement. Today, policy makers are placing great efforts on the results of student achievement by providing an extensive range of reforms that includes standardized tests, student assessments, curricula, instructional strategies, and merit pay. Without a doubt, it is true that teachers are one of the main targets for student success. Nevertheless, with all the different levels of teaching styles, student’s learning skills, classroom environments, equipment and curriculums, how can school districts agree upon teachers’ merit pay that is reasonable and equity?
Most schools or districts around the United States continue to provide teachers with a pay system created in the 1920s known as the “single-salary schedule”, which compensate teachers in view of their years of experience and number of degrees received (Ritter, 2013, p.3). According to Deuren and Evert (2015), through this system, teachers are paid the same regardless of gender, ethnicity or grade level taught; no variation of teacher performance is made. Nonetheless, this system could easily depict that teachers can simply earn income by just teaching the minimum year after year. In all retrospection, policy makers need to know if
teachers’ pay impact student academic success through teachers’ performance.
As can be seen, the debate on teachers’ merit pay continues to be a debatable topic for policy makers. According to Levin (2011), “merit pay’ is defined as linking some portion of teachers’ pay to the academic achievement of their students” (p.131). By in large, pay for performance is heating up in America’s education. In past years, policy makers continue to speak about connecting teacher evaluation and performance within American schools. Actually, Brevetti (2014) uncovers that President Obama's organization made the school change, Race to the Top $4.5 billion reserve to influence states to create a legitimacy pay framework that connection teacher’s compensation and student achievement.
To enhance the U.S.
education system, policy makers, intellectuals, and lawmakers are asking for pay changes that will improve student achievement (Barbieri, 2012). In addition, Youngs (2013) reveals that in 2010, 46 states accepted the Common Core State Standards to improve student achievement through teacher performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the pros, cons and current status of merit pay in the public schools. The question used in this proposal state as: “What is the relationship between merit pay and teacher performance?” The benefit of this research will hopefully close the gap in merit pay for K-12 teachers and teacher
performance.