Teacher Merit Pay in Ohio
Ohio policymakers have been working endlessly to improve the state's
education system through a variety of reforms, but so far, none have
been particularly effective. Since research shows that having good
teachers is one of the most important factors for student achievement,
Ohio should focus reform efforts on ways to improve teacher quality.
To address the problems of recruiting exceptional new teachers, retaining the most successful ones, and improving the current teaching workforce, merit pay systems are emerging in Ohio and other states.
This policy brief outlines the issues surrounding merit pay, summarizes the available research, and provides a prototype merit pay plan that can be implemented in districts across the state.
Some merit pay plans are impractical for widespread implementation because they require an institutional capacity that does not exist in many schools. However, the plan proposed in this paper does not advocate a total overhaul of the current way teachers' salaries are determined. Instead, it offers a practical and efficient injection of market-based incentives through the introduction of bonuses that reward excellence.
Specifically, teachers could receive bonuses of up to $10,000, $7,000, and $4,000. Variation depends upon subject taught, professional responsibilities, supervisor evaluation, and student achievement. The central feature of the prototype plan is that the largest portion of the potential bonuses is based on measures of individual classroom growth and school-wide growth.
As research suggests, a well-designed merit pay program, like the one proposed here, can increase the quality of teachers, improve educational outcomes, and facilitate an environment of collegiality and cooperation among teachers.
- Download the full report here.
- Listen to Matthew Carr discuss his finds and recommendations with David Hansen on
BuckeyeVoices here.
Matthew Carr is the Education Policy Director at the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions. He is a former staff researcher on education policy issues for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. He recently completed his master's in public administration at Kent State University. Currently, he is working on a Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas as a Distinguished Doctoral Fellow.
Marc Holley is a Doctoral Academy Fellow at the University of Arkansas, where he is a Ph.D. student in public policy. He is a former private school administrator and teacher who earned a master's in education administration and policy at the University of Georgia.
