tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291287351469784668.post1388156227985700162..comments2023-10-14T09:10:22.357-07:00Comments on Shearer Insanity: Seniority payJames B. Shearerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13452342984383895221noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291287351469784668.post-84321825982429462292009-09-16T11:12:42.866-07:002009-09-16T11:12:42.866-07:00I agree that merit pay probably doesn't work. ...I agree that merit pay probably doesn't work. Witb merit pay you create an incentive for teachers to increase their students' scores, sometimes when they don't deserve it. With subjective tests such as Reading Comprehension, for example, the teacher who is testing has an opportunity to say, "The student "almost" understood the question so he should get credit for that answer." This is especially true if teachers ar testing and scoring their own students. If you tie increased pay to the test scores, you then will produce higher test scores that really aren't accurate.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14830629701752556960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291287351469784668.post-62994260959688363012009-09-15T22:31:40.590-07:002009-09-15T22:31:40.590-07:00These comments build on comments recently made reg...These comments build on comments recently made regarding previous blogs discussing teachers in the public school system. (See “Teachers”, 8/30/09, and “Rubber Rooms, 8/27/09.) My opinions on all of these subjects is based on discussions I have had with a middle school teacher in a suburban school in the San Francisco Bay Area. The school is not a poorly performing school as judged by the “No Child Left Behind” Act. <br /><br /> My friend thinks that teachers should receive periodic raises based on seniority and rises in the cost of living. (Pay raises based on continuing education were not discussed.) Although starting salaries need to be higher to attract a competent pool of applicants (see Comments on “Rubber Rooms” 8/27/09), having no raises during one's career would not be satisfactory. She thought that the concept of merit pay had many pitfalls because of the difficulty of measuring performance. It needs to be based on where each individual student started at the beginning of the school year and what level had been reached at the end of the year. Normally a student should advance one grade level in one year, but this still may put them below the school average and the national average. Also the student's past rate of advancement needs to be considered in evaluating their current progress. (For more discussion of student progress, see the comments on the Teachers blog, 8/30/09.)Capricornnoreply@blogger.com