The concept of pay for performance for public school teachers is growing in popularity and use, and it has resurged to once again occupy a central role in education policy.
Performance Incentives: Their Growing Impact on American K-12 Education offers the most up-to-date and complete analysis of this promising—yet still controversial—policy innovation.
Performance Incentives brings together an interdisciplinary team of experts, providing an unprecedented discussion and analysis of the pay-for-performance debate by:
- Identifying the potential strengths and weaknesses of tying pay to student outcomes;
- Comparing different strategies for measuring teacher accomplishments;
- Addressing key conceptual and implementation issues;
- Describing what teachers themselves think of merit pay;
- Examining recent examples in Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas;
- Studying the overall impact on student achievement.
Select contributors include: Mark Ehlert (University of Missouri), Paul Glewwe (University of Minnesota), Dan Goldhaber (University of Washington), Jay P. Greene (University of Arkansas), Michael Kremer (Harvard University), J. R. Lockwood (RAND Corporation), Daniel F. McCaffrey (RAND Corporation), Derek Neal (University of Chicago), Michael Podgursky (University of Missouri), Gary W. Ritter (University of Arkansas), Richard Rothstein (Economic Policy Institute), James E. Ryan (University of Virginia), William L. Sanders (SAS Institute), Matthew G. Springer (Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College), Lori L. Taylor (Texas A&M University), Jacob L. Vigdor (Duke University), Martin R. West (Brown University), and Marcus A. Winters (Manhattan Institute).
Advance Praise for the Book:
"This volume brings together a collection of insightful essays on a variety of issues associated with performance-related pay policies in education. Together, the essays not only provide invaluable background information, but also explore in a detailed yet accessible way some of the technical issues associated with the development and use of teacher performance metrics. This volume will be an excellent resource for policymakers, researchers, and educators alike."
—Brian Jacob, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy, University of Michigan
"Teacher compensation needs reforming, including linking part of pay to teacher effectiveness in the classroom. Yet knowledge about how best to do so is still emerging. This volume makes a major contribution to the discussion of how to link teacher pay and performance in a responsible and effective way."
—Janet S. Hansen, Vice President and Director of Education Studies, Committee for Economic Development
"As American school districts move increasingly towards adopting non-traditional pay systems, the need for research regarding performance pay in education is greater than ever before. This book stands virtually alone as a compilation of serious knowledge and new insights about performance incentives. The authors have made a huge intellectual contribution to our understanding of how a new pay paradigm might actually operate."
—James W. Guthrie, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Education Leadership and Policy, Vanderbilt University
"
Performance Incentives offers a comprehensive look at a timely and still controversial topic. The book approaches the subject of new forms of teacher compensation from multiple angles and thus affords the reader a variety of perspectives to consider. Matthew Springer has assembled a unique set of papers that is bound to spark lively discussion. More importantly, this volume may also help to shape the policy debate around teacher pay."
— Julia E. Koppich, J. Koppich & Associates