Superintendent and Teacher Perceptions of Performance-Based Pay: What Could Work and What to Avoid When Considering Alternative Compensation Systems for Teachers

The current policy push in America is an intense focus on teacher effectiveness. Often, legislators and business leaders assume that merit pay in education is a means to improve teacher performance despite the fact that it has never worked and is debunked by the research. In his book Superintendent and Teacher Perceptions of Performance Based Pay, Dr. Moyer examines the concepts of knowledge and skills and group performance based pay from the perspective of Illinois school superintendents and teacher association presidents to determine the extent to which these compensation systems might be a viable alternative to the single salary schedule. The book traces the history of teacher compensation, examines the role teacher motivation plays, includes lessons from districts that were early implementers, provides a detailed analysis of the research, and yields several surprising insights, including the finding that superintendents and association presidents actually agree on several major concepts that could make moving to alternative compensation systems much more feasible than might be assumed.