Research Paper on:
Educators and Merit Pay

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have been proposed, but, in recent years, attention has turned increasing to the idea of tying teachers salaries to student performance. While business leaders and politicians have enthusiastically endorsed this  idea, many educators express doubt that merit pay for teachers will accomplish the goal for which it is intended, that is, improving student achievement. The following literature review examines both  sides of this debate, pro and con. One of the principal trends that current literature reveals is that merit pay is gaining some support from educators, which is surprising considering  teachers opposition to any form of merit pay in previous decades. For example, at its 1999 annual convention, the National Education Association (NEA), which is the countrys largest teachers  union with roughly 2.5 million members, considered endorsing the concept that teachers pay should be linked to performance, an idea that, previously, the NEA categorically refused to consider (Gillespie,  2000). Similarly, Sandra Feldman, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the nations second largest teachers union, conceded that "great teaching" should receive additional financial compensation (Gillespie, 2000).  Jane Hannaway, director of the education policy center at the Urban Institute, argues that merit pay for teaching is inevitable, for two reasons. First of all, the incredible amount  of data generated by the requirement of the "No Child left Behind Act" makes it possible to make statistical comparison between teacher performance, measuring the impact that individual teachers have  on their students (Anonymous, 2002). Secondly, because administrators are held accountable for the performance of their schools under the new law, it is expected that this will also cause increased  attention on teacher performance (Anonymous, 2002). In 2001, Iowa joined the school districts around the country that have adopted various systems of merit pay for teachers in the public