The New York City Department of Education today abandoned a three year teacher performance bonus program that cost $56 million. The New York Times reports:
The decision was made in light of a study that found the bonuses had no positive effect on either student performance or teachers’ attitudes toward their jobs.
The study’s authors said:
Teachers also reported that improving as teachers and seeing their students learn were bigger motivators than a bonus…
Here’s one more excerpt from the article:
The results add to a growing body of evidence nationally that so-called pay-for-performance bonuses for teachers that consist only of financial incentives have no effect on student achievement, the researchers wrote.
Bob Sutton has written a post about the study, titled New York City Halts Teacher Bonus Program: Another Blow to Evidence-Resistant Ideology that is a must-read, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published a column on it, too.
I’m add these resources to The Best Resources For Learning Why Teacher Merit Pay Is A Bad Idea.
“Teachers also reported that improving as teachers and seeing their students learn were bigger motivators than a bonus…”
Oh come on. Why even receive a paycheck? The joy of seeing kids succeed is payment enough. It’s a job Larry.
Gustavo,
Teachers need to feel like they are fairly compensated. I would say the most teachers, though obviously not all, would honestly say that professional improvement, seeing students learn, and feeling a sense of autonomy are genuine motivators. In fact, research from people like Dan Ariely and Daniel Pink would say the same thing about most people — that, once people feel that they are fairly compensated, those are issues are more effective motivators.
Larry
Larry,
I probably came off harsh with my comment so I apologize. That was my initial reaction though. I just don’t think there’s anything wrong with making money.