The problems of public education are not that America's classrooms are filled with too many bad teachers or too few smart ones. Instead, policy makers are paying too little attention to mobilizing the many experts teaching today who could lead in powerful ways. Enter the teacherpreneur, who teaches students for a career and has "the…

Managed and supported by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET), TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement was introduced in 1999 to attract, motivate, and retain talent in teaching by providing opportunities for career advancement, professional development, evaluation, and performance-based compensation. Each of TAP's…

Recent state and federal policies generally focus on the individual teacher rather than the school organization. These reforms seem to assume that a teacher can do it all, that an individual who succeeds in one school can succeed in any school and, conversely, that a teacher who fails in one classroom will fail in all others. However, there is no…

The use of performance-based pay, or merit pay, has become a topic of increased focus in education circles in recent years. Questions about the effectiveness of these types of programs, coupled with a variety of criticisms about the benefits of merit pay, have resulted in teachers viewing this type of incentive structure with much skepticism. In…

When proposing performance pay for teachers, reformers first must answer three questions: What is the definition of teacher performance? What is the definition of student performance? and What are the goals of schooling? Reformers also need to examine the assumptions that guide their proposals and prepare to deal with the implementation issues…

After earlier plans fell out of favor, pay for performance plans are becoming more popular. Factors that make those plans more viable include new data systems and ways to measure performance, increased attention on the importance of effective teaching, the need for efficiencies in salary schedules during tough economic conditions, and a change in…

Suggests that teachers establish educational achievement expectations for their students, that administrators review these expectations for appropriateness, and that teachers who exceed reasonable expectations be rewarded from special state-disbursed supplemental funds. (PGD)

Explores the quiet demise of the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Schools' effort to institute a comprehensive evaluation system for teachers and administrators that was complemented by a merit pay plan. Reasons for the program's failure may include hasty planning and implementation and an overwhelming amount of paper work. (Author/WD)

In 1984, a Salt Lake City school district began developing a merit pay program to cover all certified teachers. A committee of teachers designed an assessment method called AIM. Implementation involved developing measurement criteria, establishing evaluation procedures, providing feedback, creating a merit pay plan tied to career development, and…

Reflects on the positive merits of the educational specialty board concept discussed by Myron Lieberman (EA 519 376) and urges further development of the concept, but also argues that Lieberman's proposal has little relation to merit pay and that the merit pay connection should be dropped. (PGD)

Poses an extended list of practical questions left unanswered by Myron Lieberman in his proposal (EA 519 376) for the creation of educational specialty boards to recognize outstanding teachers. (PGD)

Public support for better teacher salaries hinges on tying these salaries to performance and productivity. To succeed, alternative compensation plans must be free of legislative involvement and restrictive outside funding and feature teacher cooperation in planning; clear, attainable objectives; freedom to determine reward format; and sound and…

The teaching profession is harmed by its focus on college degrees and length of service; the public views teachers as semiprofessionals, with job security and summers off. Some private schools have developed teacher evaluation and merit pay systems focused on teacher performance, not longevity. Costs and benefits are discussed. (MLH)

Peer-Mediated Self-Appraisal facilitates merit pay decisions by combining summative (standard professional review) and formative (teaching processes and strategies) evaluation. It requires clear teaching standards, objective measures, and community acceptance of teachers as professionals. Two figures compare formative and summative evaluation and…

In satirical verse the author affirms the value of merit pay proposals and laments the lack of action on such proposals that has resulted from indecisiveness concerning criteria for merit pay implementation. (JBM)