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Hello...earth to merit pay proponents: What proof do you have to validate your position? There are at least two dozen studies showing that people who expect a reward do not perform as well as those who expect nothing. It's a do this and you'll get that approach to motivation.

Here's the ultimate challenge: We are conditioned to believe the American way of the "carrot and stick". Does that make it right? Sooner or later, the sense of being controlled sets in. What if students don't get the reward they were hoping for? They feel punished, especially if their friend is now bragging about his accomplishments. Is this motivational demoralization?

For starters, how will we measure how teachers get merit pay? If using test scores, we are simply testing intellectual efficiency. Parents tend to evaluate the quality of a school by the numbers and not the number of loopholes within it. The most disturbing aspect of merit pay is the message it conveys. What is the core message and meaning of our educational system? Is the priority test results or meaningful learning. Case in point: As a retired teacher, there are kids who are academically and clueless to the real world outside of books and textbook answer. How will these kids address real life challenges? Other questions to consider: id our priority the test result or the process of effort and persistence? Do the challenges of life rest with the right answer or the persistence to keep going until the solution is reached? Is our educational system about instant gratification or the love of learning that lasts a lifetime?

There have been many surverys of former students being asked about the great teachers of their life. None of these surveys listed subject matter as a criteria for outstanding teaching. And it is subject matter expertise is primary in sharing so students can produce higher test scores,

Former students always list the intangibles such as patience, enthusiasm, compassion, listening, caring concern etc. These traits cannot be measured into merit pay, These are thaits that lead to the teachable moments that students use skillfully and practically for the rest of their lives.

Lastly, merit pay represents external motivation. The teaching profession is not Wall Street. The internal motivation rests with the reason why I started teaching in 1972 for the then low pay of $9,000: to make a difference in the lives of kids. Is this approach naive? Widgets are all the same. Are kids?

Learn more about this author, Joseph Wardy.
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