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- Thread starter Bob
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isn't nature wonderful........
Smiling JOe
SoWal Expert
Good teachers are special people.
Merit pay based on test scores seems one measurable way of handling the performance pay, but it can get a little crazy as mentioned above, when teachers teach to the test. Of course, if the teacher can teach the stuff on the tests, and the kids can retain the info, they are probably actually teaching, at least math and English.
Is there a better way? I'm not sure.
What I dislike, is what I've read about in the past, where teachers' pay is based on how much the test scores of the lowest 25% improve. When that is the case, the teachers focused on money, will forget about the other 75% of the class and teach to only the bottom 25%. In a sense, that dumbs down 75% of the future work force.
Merit pay based on test scores seems one measurable way of handling the performance pay, but it can get a little crazy as mentioned above, when teachers teach to the test. Of course, if the teacher can teach the stuff on the tests, and the kids can retain the info, they are probably actually teaching, at least math and English.
Is there a better way? I'm not sure.
What I dislike, is what I've read about in the past, where teachers' pay is based on how much the test scores of the lowest 25% improve. When that is the case, the teachers focused on money, will forget about the other 75% of the class and teach to only the bottom 25%. In a sense, that dumbs down 75% of the future work force.
I don't know where you got these sample questions but I find it unlikely that they would ever be on the 5th grade FCAT. The reason being that they give those formulas to students on the reference sheet when they take the FCAT.
So if they do require students to perform those calculations on the FCAT, all that the student has to do is plug in numbers to a formula. I think it is reasonable to expect a 5th grader to know how to do that.
http://fcat.fldoe.org/fcat2/pdf/mg5rsr.pdf
Bob Wells
Beach Fanatic
Unfortunately merit pay has to be funded, and the evaluation has to be objective and really what maybe objective to you may be subjective to me. This is just an easy way of not paying folks. I will guess that within 5 years we will be returning to a pay scale and merit pay will come on top of that, just to get teachers in the classrooms and get college grad to think about teaching as a career. When I was in the Navy a few years ago, they were offering reenlistment bonuses for 4 and six years. Back then 18,000 was a lot of money, now they offer enlistment bonuses some as high as 50,000 for your first hitch. It was not that long ago school districts were at every job fair in and out of state attempting to hire teachers because pay was so low, now pay is better and we have some that resent the fact, so we are going to punish the teachers. Hang tough teachers, it will swing back your way.
I'd rather my child be taught by a well-paid professional than by an underpaid, resentful one. Teaching is a profession, not just a job. They can have more positive impact on our society than, say, a lawyer (or many other highly-paid professions) who obviously is rewarded more handsomely.
Will B
Moderator
Unfortunately, this plays out a little differently in the real world. The underpaid teachers work at private schools where, in a lot of cases, the education is better. Public school teachers seem to be the resentful ones despite having a better comensation package than that of their private school counterparts.
In my experience, private school teachers seem to have more freedom and be happier with their jobs.
Will B
Moderator
Mine as well. I'm sure there are many intrinsic rewards that come with the private experience vs the public...