Teachers Should Be Paid More - Essay Example

Teachers Should Be Paid More Introduction Teachers are very important figures in society and in most cases, people never forget their best teachers. They are the ones who shape our future and opened doors of opportunities that determine what kind of lives students move on to lead. However, these great figures of society, to whom society owes their level of knowledge, are not well reimbursed for their efforts. Statistics show that the U.S falls behind other nations when pitted in an academic excellence arena. This can be linked to lack of proper incentive to teachers. The thesis statement of this essay is that teachers should be paid more in order to improve their teaching craft, methods and techniques, which translates to improved student performance. Discussion This essay explores the effect of an increase in incentive for teachers in relation to their performance in terms of teaching methods, differentiated and individual instruction, teaching morale etc. In addition to this, the essay focuses on the alternatives that are available to boost teachers’ performance standards, most notably merit pay and its effects on teaching efficiency. The essay also discusses the implications of merit pay, both ethically and professionally, citing different opinions of whether merit pay is professional or not. Different citations guide the thesis of this essay on finding the best solution to the problem statement of this essay, which is whether teachers should or should not have an increase in pay. In a Times Magazine article titled “How to Make Great Teachers,” Claudia Wallis notes that, the most important aspect of boosting student performance is neither the amount of materials they are exposed to, nor the amount of money invested in classrooms and the students, but rather, the investment made to improve the welfare of the teachers. Claudia supposes that a merit pay system should be implemented in schools to motivate teachers. To most people, this is ethical and justifiable. It makes sense that people should be paid based on their performance and excellence. Other schools of thought have suggested that teachers should be paid based on the performance of the students. This example shows that Wallis’ believes that teachers should be paid more, and that this increase should be on the basis of efficiency and results. In another article, ‘How To Make Great Teachers’, David West, Caitlin Abruzzi and James Raynor, seem to disagree with Wallis; according to them, the idea of merit pay may seem justified and a motivation to educators, but there exists the problem of whether the ethical way is the professional way. Teachers should not want to better their teaching methods, skills, efforts and craft because of the promise of an increased pay; they should do so because their work is to help students improve and better their knowledge. West, Abruzzi and Raynor seek to inform that although the merit pay might seem like a better move, the assessment rubric for assessing teachers would be biased. Victor Lavy opposes West, Abbruzi and Raynor, and supports Wallis’ idea of merit pay. According to Lavy’s “Paying for performance: the effect of teachers' financial incentives on students' scholastic outcomes”, Lavy states that the lack of performance based pay leads to mediocrity in many academic institutions. Lavy draws his argument from an incentive experiment performed to determine the effect of increased pay on teachers’ performance. In this program, Hebrew, English and Math teachers were awarded cash bonuses, on the basis of improved class performance in exams (Lavy 6). The study was based on comparison groups and it employed three strategies; a regression discontinuity method, a natural experiment whose concept derives from measurement of error in the assignment variable, and a propensity score matching. The results were consistent in all three methods, showing that paying incentives to teachers based on merit improved the students’ performance in both Math and English (Lavy 8). This further shows that teachers should be paid more, in order to boost academic excellence in the American educational institutions. According to Lavy (p 26), the teachers’ achievements or efficiency can be calculated based on the regression of student test scores, and the students’ average residuals. If teachers are just paid higher salaries without an assessment of performance, most teachers would just continue with their level of performance or even reduce it. However, merit pay ensures that teachers give their absolute bet in what they do, producing great results. This reflects on their students’ performance since a motivator instructor impacts the students more than a gloomy instructor (Lavy 25). This essay proves that teachers should be paid more, and that performance based pay, should be the main emphasis of this increase in pay. According to Hodge (29), teachers should be paid more because they inspire their students to set audacious and big goals for themselves. Teachers accumulated years of work results to experience which translates to better delivery of classroom material, and consequently an improvement in student performance. He states that, “Teachers’ input in society is something that is immeasurable”. They teach students how to read and write, they empathize with students in times of hardships. Teachers plan and execute the curriculum, and also perseveres the process of first time teaching. This is unlike other professions where first timers have managers to guide them on what to do and supervise their tasks. Teachers know how to create a culture for excellence in a school or classroom. They inspire students to do what really matters (Hodge, 30). Teachers are always actively involved in student development both in class, and outside class. This analysis by Warren Hodge shows that teachers are the foundation of almost every aspect of professional society. For this reasons, they should be paid more The incentive experiment in Lavy’s article proves that teachers work harder when they receive monetary incentives; English teachers who got a salary raise performed differentiated instruction and individual instruction; whereas math teachers who got a raise added extra hours of work per week to try and help those students that were having problems with math (Lavy 25). Conclusion This essay outlines the facts that have long been a debate between teachers’ unions and the government. The facts presented in this essay clearly outline the role of teachers in society, the current academic performance levels in the country, and the potential improvement in performance should teachers start receiving merit based monetary incentives. Teachers should be paid more in order because this improves their teaching craft, methods and techniques, which translates to improved student performance in class. This means that the country benefits from highly qualified graduates due the implementation of this new merit pay system. This will go a long way in bettering the academic life of students, and the academic level of the country as a whole. Works Cited Hodge, Warren A.. The role of performance pay systems in comprehensive school reform: considerations for policy making and planning. Lanham: University Press of America, 2003. Print. "How To Make Great Teachers." Times Magazine. Version 25. N.p., 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. . Lavy, Victor. Paying for performance: the effect of teachers' financial incentives on students' scholastic outcomes. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research;, 2003. Print. West, Dennis, Caitlin Abruzzi, and James Raynor. "How To Make Great Teachers." NY Teachers. N.p., 20 Apr. 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. . Read More