Performance Based Pay for Teachers Essay -- Education Tests

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle On February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law (US Dept of Education). According to the Executive Summary of the US Department of Education’s website the purpose of this act was to stimulate the economy, create jobs, and provide funding for education. To encourage education reform at the state level, the competitive grant program, â€Å"Race to the Top,† was implemented. This allowed states to apply for grants, provided that certain education reform was taking place within states’ schools. One particular condition under this campaign has led to much debate within our education system, implementing a pay system based on a teacher’s academic performance and the methods used to determine this (US Dept of Education). There are many ways to compile data on a teacher and determine that person’s performance. Teacher performance can be based upon classroom observation, a teacher’s continuing development and education, and students’ standardized testing scores. The controversy centers around using student test scores to determine the performance of a teacher and thus her pay. Scott Andes, a research analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation voices the merits of performance based pay with his article â€Å"Getting Serious with Education: Why Can We Measure Students but Not Teachers?† High School English teachers, Jordan Kohanim and Ashley Ulrich vehemently state why there is no merit with performance based pay with their article, â€Å"No Merit to Merit Pay Arguments.† In each article both sides debate how performance based or merit pay will affect students, teachers, schools, and com... ...ides to come together and implement a plan for better practices in assessing the performance of the nation’s teachers and its students. Works Cited "Race to the Top Executive Summary." US Department of Education Website. 20 Semptember 2010. Web . 2009. 16 November 2010 Andes, Scott. â€Å"Getting Serious About Education: Why Can We Measure Students But Not Teachers?" Progressive Fix Website. 28 July 2010. .16 November 2010 Aristotle. QuoteWorld.org. 2010. Web. . 16 November 2010 Kohanim, Jordan and Ashley Ulrich. "Teachers: No Merit to Merit Pay Arguments." Atlanta Journal-Constitution Website. 28 February 2010. Web. .16 November 2010