A Straightforward Guide to Teacher Merit Pay. Encouraging and Rewarding Schoolwide Improvement

By Gary W. Ritter and Joshua H. Barnett

Reward your best teachers for the great work they do!  Is your school system considering teacher merit pay? Now is the time to understand the potential benefits and pitfalls of performance-based teacher pay, as well as, how today’s most successful programs were developed. Drawing on substantial research with school districts, Gary Ritter and Joshua Barnett provide a step-by-step approach to setting up a merit pay system in your school district. Readers will find

• An overview of existing merit pay programs and their strengths and weaknesses
• A review of the 12 most common myths about merit pay and how school leaders can respond
• Six guiding principles for designing a merit pay program along with how-to’s and timelines for every phase
• Guidance on creating balanced assessments based on multiple measures of teacher effectiveness and developed in collaboration with teachers

Ensure that your district’s merit pay program supports teachers’ professional growth, schoolwide progress and student achievement.