Abstract
Policymakers across the globe are actively seeking reforms that lead to improved student performance. One reform gaining momentum is the usage of merit pay for educators who are able to increase performance on standardized measures. However, educators’ voices are often missing from the discussion, as policies are put onto them rather than determined with them. The present paper examines the historical landscape in one country, infuses the growing international literature on merit pay into the conversation, and makes recommendations for those considering the inclusion or creation of such pay for performance models and how educators can help shape the policies.
Highlights
Teacher retention and recruitment concerns are arising in Parliaments and legislative bodies across the globe
We examine the broad, international literature regarding merit pay with reference to the experience in U.S.A., where merit pay has resurfaced within an educational accountability influx
Policymakers in New Zealand are not alone in trying to consider policies to improve performance; recruit, retain, and reward effective teachers; or identify ways to reform their educational agencies. As these conversations continue to take shape, a broader review of what is known about merit pay is needed
Summary
Teacher retention and recruitment concerns are arising in Parliaments and legislative bodies across the globe. Whilst it was conceded that this could be drawn upon in making salary-related decisions, it was seen as a fundamentally different activity to assessment, which made direct comparisons between teachers, as the former school inspectorate had once done (Cardno & Piggot-Irvine, 1997, p.16) It could be argued, that the introduction from 2001, of the Labour Government’s major flagship teacher professional development programme, Te Kōtahitanga, has encouraged a growing tendency in New Zealand to focus not just on school effectiveness as the major determinant of student achievement, but on teacher culpability for the failure of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori students to achieve at similar levels to the European majority. As these conversations continue to take shape, a broader review of what is known about merit pay is needed
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