The teaching profession in the United States is under assault. A regimen of reforms threatens educators with sanctions under No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Pay-for-performance measures are a slap in the face, implying that teachers need financial carrots dangled in front of them to ensure they work hard. And there's also the public…

This "Informed Educator" looks at recent research on teacher opinions about their working conditions to address the question "what matters to teachers?" District and school leaders can use this information to strengthen their efforts to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and, in addition, better support teacher efforts to educate students.…

This report summarizes AISD's REACH program teachers' attitudes toward strategic compensation, comparing results from 2008-2009 to 2009-2010.

Policymakers are increasingly adopting "pay-for-performance" policies in which teachers are compensated based on their performance as measured by classroom evaluations and/or student achievement test results. Prior research has produced largely inconclusive findings concerning support among teachers for these policies and their effects…

Reform advocates and policymakers concerned about the quality and distribution of teachers support proposals of alternative compensation for teachers in hard-to-hire subject areas, hard-to-staff schools, and with special knowledge and skills. The successful implementation of such proposals depends in large part on teacher attitudes. The current…

This study summarizes the empirical results of school-level research done in Georgia, one of the post-Soviet, Caucasian states, in October 2009. The findings drawn from qualitative and quantitative data describe current policies regarding teacher salaries and incentives in Georgia and identify future possible policy strategies aimed at the…

Teachers generally feel unrewarded and underappreciated. Most oppose merit pay and extending the school year and desire higher pay and more authority. The most frequently mentioned problems are parents' lack of interest and support, lack of proper financial support, pupils' lack of interest and truancy, and lack of discipline. Other results are…

Utah's involvement with career ladders grew out of the nationwide educational reform movement. The plan was to improve learning by improving the quality of teachers. This could be done by retaining superior teachers, attracting higher quality recruits, and improving teachers' working conditions. In 1984 the Utah Legislature focused on…

This paper discusses some of the issues behind the current debate on merit pay for teachers. A brief history is presented of performance-based compensation systems. The difficulties in arriving at a consensus on a valid definition of merit pay are pointed out, and examples are presented of various merit plans, such as master teaching plans, career…

The development of a merit pay system in effect since 1953 in a suburban school district is discussed in light of district records and interviews with administrators and teachers. A key element of the system is a standing committee for evaluation of the program, consisting of the superintendent, teacher-elected representatives, and one…

Summarized in this report are the responses of the 1,222 public school teachers who participated in the 1987 Educator Opinion Poll (43 percent of the national sample). The survey instrument included both questions eliciting the opinions of teachers and questions about their status and experiences. Opinion questions covered such topics as the lead…

This paper focuses on the perceptions of all administrators (N=24) and teachers (N=165) in a school district regarding the success of a merit pay program in providing a motivational climate for teachers. In 1984 a school district in New Hampshire instituted a Performance Based Salary Program (PBSP). This paper addresses the following research…