Mike V. is taking this opportunity to pose three very simple, but very important questions:
1. Does merit pay actually work?
2. Are student test scores and teacher competency related?"
3. What is the purpose of assessment, in your estimation.
Choose any one of the above questions and let us hear your thoughts.
Does merit pay work?
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings as to if merit pay works. There are several reasons as to why I think it does work. First, it would make teachers push harder to work better. They would be motivated to make better lesson plans as well as challenging the student’s abilities. Second, it would draw more people into the teaching profession. Young people coming into the field would see it as an “easy” pay raise. Third, I think it is unfair that all teachers get paid a certain amount based on their years of service. This allows for extremely well teachers and poor teachers to get paid the same amount. If merit pay was involved then we would not have this unfair pay situation. On the other hand, I can think of several reasons as to why it would not work. First, if the merit pay would include the children’s test scores, this would cause problems because many teacher would not want certain students in their classrooms. These students will lower their chances of receiving their merit pay for that year. Second, if merit pay was applicable for teachers, I think it could cause tension between teachers. Some teachers would think that they are better than others. Furthermore with merit pay, the evaluation process has to be fair for all teachers. This would not be the case because merit pay is usually based on student’s performance, behavior, and evaluations completed by the principal.
Does merit pay work?
ReplyDeleteI think that in theory merit pay sounds like a good idea. However, in reality I believe it will cause unrest and competition between teachers, just as Jennifer noted. I somewhat agree with Jennifer’s statement on merit pay driving teachers to work harder. Many teachers are already working at maximum capacity. Not much more effort can be put forth without taking more time away from family and personal obligations. I think the biggest problem of merit pay is where is the money tree that will fund the pay increases? I don’t believe districts have the money to support merit pay in a district. If money is uncovered, the last place tax payers will want it to go is to the teachers who have off two months a year.
Merit pay in theory sounds great, but in reality, there is so many factors that can stand in the way from merit pay actually working. In some districts there are amazing and hard-working teachers that give it their all in the classroom, but the students within are not willing or can not give their 100% due to lousy environmental or socio-economical circumstances. Now it is fair for the teacher to base a teacher's salary on a test score that is already doomed in the first place due to these circumstances? We need to fix and help those low in society in order for merit pay to truly work and be fair.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of assessment is a instructional tool, in which assessing a student may be either formal or informal. It may also be a way to see what they already know - Diagnostic, it may also be an instructional tool in which students feed information back - formative, and it may a test or quiz - summative. All assessments are ways to assist and evaluate student learning, identify the students' weakness or strength and lastly, it is a way to improve some teaching practices.
What is the purpose of assessment?
ReplyDeleteAssessments are used in schools at every grade level for some kind of distinct purpose. I feel the most important reason is to keep track of students and the amount they are learning. In the beginning of the year, students are assessed to determine which programs they may enter into such as ESL. From the previous year’s test scores, the school will also decide if a student will be considered for Gifted and Talented. Also, within the first week of school, teachers assign the beginning of the year test for Mathematics to see what the students know and test them based on all the work they will be teaching for that year. So, yes I do believe this can be difficult, especially the first week of school in a kindergarten classroom, but it truly helps the teacher to get to know what their students are capable of. This helps when you’re determining which group to place the students in for their centers.
Now, with the SGO that we have to complete, we will know how well the students raised up with their test scores 3 times a year (in my school). For example, 80% of my students will have to learn 73 sight words by April and are tested in October to see what they know, tested again in April to see if they now know the words, and finally in June to see how much they learned. As much of a hassle, this can be its an important concept that has to be taken care of to determine reading difficulties that have tobe taken care of throughout the year. Our ultimate goal as teachers should be to do whatever we can to teach our students in any way we can, whether we have to differentiate our style in whatever way possible to help them, we do just that. We will see how valid our assessments are when we find out what our end results are and whether our students are truly learning.
I believe the purpose of assessment is to find out what your students already know and what they need to learn next or what needs to be retaught in order to continue. I don’t believe every teacher handles assessments correctly..giving a test, grading it and handing it back as you begin a new chapter because they are too busy about continuing on with the curriculum. I believe after giving a test/assessment there should be some type of explanation and discussion so the student understands where or what they got wrong so they are aware and will be able to correct it in the further. With a subject like math for example how are you able to go on to more complicated problems if you are still struggling with the same simple problems? The student will never show any growth, and it is unfair. Assessments are also there to show how a student has progressed throughout the year with what they have been taught.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s downright insulting for someone to think I would be a much better teacher if I received higher pay when there are so many variables that teachers cannot control when it comes to student achievement. No amount of money can cover all the time, effort, and basically my whole life that I poured into teaching. I would continue to give more than my best to students whether I receive higher pay or not because this teaching profession was never about the money. It this was about money, then I would not be in this profession because everything I had to sacrifice for teaching would hardly match any amount of money that could be offered.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to my first point, there are too many variables that a teacher cannot control when it comes to student achievement. If a student decides he’s not going to put forth any effort whatsoever, then it would not matter how much of an effort his teacher gives into helping him succeed. Therefore, receiving merit pay according to students’ achievements is not a valid measure of teacher effectiveness.