The new performance pay systems attempt to judge teachers more objectively, based on student achievement test scores, schools' academic goals, extra training and other measures. Moreover, new merit pay systems take many forms. Some reward individual teachers. Others offer bonuses to the entire staff when student achievement soars. The union, which serves a 33,000-student district south of Denver, for six years has helped coordinate a comprehensive merit pay system that is considered a model by many districts.
Some teachers dismiss merit pay as an attempt to avoid paying teachers what they're worth.
There is a direct correlation between the socioeconomic level of students and test scores. A lot of their patients die. Limited researchhas been inconclusive in determining the effectiveness of new merit pay programs. Some districts, including Douglas County in Colorado, have posted higher student test scores. But researchers have been unable to determine what role merit pay for teachers played in such results.