Re: Teachers Dubious of Test-Score-Based Pay

[aburke5054@aol.com]

The article points to Denver teachers who are getting an extra $5K a year in merit pay.? The union president there said that before merit pay teachers didn't talk with each other about students' learning, but now with merit pay they do.? In Denver the merit pay is based on more than test scores, as it should be.? 


 
Art


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
To: ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>; arn2-strategy <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>; ARN State <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 5:59 am
Subject: [arn-l] Teachers Dubious of Test-Score-Based Pay









MANY TEACHERS DUBIOUS OF MERIT PAY?
?

Associated Press -- July 4, 2007?

by Nancy Zuckerbrod?
?

Philadelphia -- Merit pay tied to student test scores seems all the rage 
in some educational circles, but many teachers think it's an idea whose 
time hasn't come.?
?

It's a concept that is gaining ground in state capitals and in 
Washington, nevertheless. Members of Congress, for instance, are 
considering adding funding bonuses for teachers who raise student 
achievement as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for 
review this year.?
?

Proponents say such a system would reward effective teachers and attract 
strong new recruits to the profession. But teachers attending the annual 
convention of the National Education Association seem dubious -- even if 
it could put more money in their pockets.?
?

Deborah Torres-Gore, who teaches second- and third-graders in Fontana, 
Calif., said other factors must be considered when judging the 
effectiveness of teachers.?
?

"When I look into the eyes of a student who I have taught in the past -- 
or I stand at the door in the morning and my students say Mrs. Gore, 'I 
love you,' or Mrs. Gore, 'You're such a good teacher' -- am I effective 
or not? I think I'm effective," she said.?
?

The teachers here are members of the NEA, the nation's largest teachers 
union. They say they worry that educators in struggling schools, where 
students might be poor or speak another language at home, would have 
trouble getting their student scores up enough to earn the "effective" 
label.?
?

For their part, many educational policy-makers say that a merit pay 
system could take such circumstances into account. But teachers seem 
skeptical.?
?

"Can you account for the child's emotions? Can you account for whether 
their parents are getting them to school on time?" asked Sharon 
Vandagriff, a third-grade teacher near Chattanooga, Tenn.?
?

Tennessee is far ahead of other states in monitoring student progress 
and using that information to see which teachers are producing the 
biggest gains. The information is used for professional development and 
planning purposes, but not for merit pay.?
?

It is expected that the No Child Left Behind law will be changed to 
require school systems to monitor the performance of individual students 
over time. Right now, the law requires students in certain grades to be 
tested and then compares their scores to students in that grade the year 
before.?
?

Teachers say they would prefer a system that tracks individual students. 
However, once you measure that, you can't ignore which teachers are 
moving their students along well, says Ross Wiener, who oversees policy 
issues at Education Trust, a Washington-based group that advocates for 
poor and minority children.?
?

"There are huge differences in the effectiveness of individual 
teachers," Wiener said. "You have to be able to look at growth measures 
at the classroom level, so principals and other administrators 
understand which classrooms are accelerating student learning and which 
ones aren't."?
?

Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, 
another nonpartisan Washington group, said that measuring teacher 
effectiveness, and paying educators accordingly, would bring public 
education in line with other professions.?
?

"In most professions people earn salaries based on merit, not based on 
formula schedules," she said, referring to the current way teachers are 
paid.?
?

But teachers say their profession is unlike others.?
?

"They're looking at this as if we're manufacturing automobiles," said 
Sandy Hughes, who teaches high school English, French and Latin, also 
near Chattanooga. "With children, you're working with unique 
individuals, all of whom have unique qualities. Our variables are so 
extensive."?
?

There is one group of teachers at the convention who not only support 
merit pay, but helped put it in place. They teach in the Denver school 
system, which just fully implemented a districtwide merit pay system. It 
took several years to design and has the support of the local NEA chapter.?
?

Kim Ursetta is president of that local union, and she said the system 
works in Denver because it is based on student test scores and several 
other factors, such as whether a teacher signs up for professional 
development or has a good annual review.?
?

She said in addition to relying on the reading and math scores used 
under No Child Left Behind, the merit pay system also measures whether 
students met other goals set out by teachers and administrators.?
?

She said that has led to greater collaboration and more of a focus on 
raising student achievement.?
?

"We never sat down before as teachers to talk about where are students 
were," Ursetta said. "It's forcing continual conversation about student 
learning."?
?

All Denver teachers are eligible for merit pay, not just those who teach 
reading and math, the subjects tested under the federal education law, 
Ursetta said. If teachers work in hard-to-staff schools, they also can 
get paid more. Teachers are getting on average about $5,000 more a year 
under the new system, Ursetta said. Denver residents agreed to pay for 
it through a tax increase.?
?

Ursetta said she's received calls from policy-makers and educators 
nationwide -- and even abroad -- who want to learn about the Denver 
system. But her advice is not to copy it.?
?

"This was developed by and for Denver," she said. "These systems need to 
be based on the kids you have in your district."?



 


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