Merit pay is highly controversial. Describe three arguments supporting merit pay, and then provide three criticisms of merit pay

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

First, proponents argue that rewarding exemplary teaching performance makes sense and that money can provide incentives for teacher excellence. Second, advocates also claim that effective merit pay systems encourage brighter and more competent people to consider teaching as a career and will also encourage the best and brightest teachers to remain in the profession. Third, advocates further argue that evidence from student achievement data exists to support the process of awarding merit pay.
Critics make precisely the opposite arguments. First, they contend that while superficial examinations suggest that merit pay systems make sense, a closer look shows that they are ineffective. For instance, a merit system in the New York City schools was permanently discontinued because research indicated that it failed to produce gains on student achievement. Second, critics contend that merit pay is divisive, damages morale, and makes teachers less likely to cooperate with each other, and they question the assumption that teachers will work harder for more pay. Third, critics contend that research has failed to find a link between merit-pay systems and increased student learning.