Financial Incentives and Teacher Performance

Abstract

I examine the broader political economy and the impact classical-liberal ideology has had on education policy decisions in the Western and wider world. I then explore how incentives influence behaviours in the broader economy, before finally investigating what the current literature says about the relationship between financial incentives and teacher performance. This paper focuses on Australia with a view to evaluating policy choices that may have a beneficial impact on teacher performance and thus student outcomes in this country. To facilitate such an analysis I examine a diverse range of international jurisdictions to see what conclusions can be drawn as to the effect of teacher incentive pay on performance.