Performance-based pay for teachers

A forum on education sponsored by EPI

ONLINE REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED.
WE WILL HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF SEATS FOR WALK-INS.

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Registration: 9:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Panel:  9:30 am to 11:00 a.m.
Location: EPI (Washington, DC)

Performance-based pay for teachers has recently been embraced by policy makers across the political spectrum as a means for improving student learning. In the first of a series of volumes on teacher compensation systems, the Economic Policy Institute just released the book, Teachers, Performance Pay, and Accountability: What Education Should Learn From Other Sectors.

In the first contribution, Scott Adams and John Heywood assess pay-for-performance practices in the private sector: they find that periodic “bonus” payments are relatively common (and growing) in the private sector but represent a very small share of overall compensation and are generally not explicitly tied to simple measures of output. Formulaic payments based on individual productivity measures are rare, particularly among professionals.  In the second paper, Richard Rothstein reviews a long history of performance accountability systems in the public and private arenas. Through a series of historical examples, he highlights countless examples of goal distortion, gaming, and measure corruption in the use of performance evaluation systems. Rothstein concludes that the pitfalls associated with rewarding narrow indicators have led many organizations--including prominent corporations like Wal-Mart and McDonalds--to combine quantitative indicators with broader, more subjective measures of quality and service.

Please join us for a spirited discussion of these vital and timely education issues. The authors and our expert panelists will discuss the lessons learned by these studies, as well as their implications for teacher compensation policies and accountability policy in general.

Moderator:
Debra Viadero, Education Week

Speakers:
Scott Adams, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
John Heywood, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute

Discussant:
Janet S. Hansen, Committee for Economic Development

Location:
Economic Policy Institute, 1333 H Street NW, Suite 300 East Tower, Washington DC
(Near McPherson Square Metro (Orange/Blue lines) and Metro Center (Red line))

For additional information about this event, please email events@epi.org.