Why are teachers unions afraid or performance evaluations and merit based pay? None of the arguments offered in opposition commercial and literature holds water and many of the comments made about what Ohio Issue 2 (Senate Bill 5) will do are even correct, says Tara Dodrill for Yahoo! News. All of the unsafe working conditions and inability to negotiate on classroom size and related issues are false and really do not even deserve to be discussed anymore. Anyone who has actually bothered to read the bill already understands the scope and limitations of the pending fiscally responsible legislation. Performance evaluations, merit pay and annual bonuses awarded based on academic progress at the best thing which could happen to teachers…
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Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
Incentives for advanced work let pupils and teachers cash in
Joe Nystrom, who teaches math at a low-income high school here, used to think that only a tiny group of students—the “smart kids”—were capable of advanced coursework, reports the New York Times. But two years ago, spurred by a national program that offered cash incentives and other support for students and teachers, Mr. Nystrom’s school, South High Community School, adopted a come one, come all policy for Advanced Placement courses. Today Mr. Nystrom teaches A.P. statistics to eight times as many students as he used to, and this year 70 percent of them scored high enough to qualify for college credit, compared with 50 percent before. One in four earned the top score possible, far outpacing their counterparts worldwide…
…Read MoreOpinion: To improve U.S. education, it’s time to treat teachers as professionals
“What are the right incentives to have in place for teachers?” The very question itself is jarring, says Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education professor for the Washington Post. It implies that teachers don’t want to perform well and that they need incentives, which in today’s parlance translates into rewards (money) and reprimands (fear of loss of benefits or position). Let me present a very different picture: Teachers should be regarded as and behave like professionals. A professional is a certified expert who is afforded prestige and autonomy in return for performing at a high level, which includes making complex and disinterested judgments under conditions of uncertainty…
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