by Crystal Robenolt

Created on: June 03, 2009

Oh man, what a question! It is not nearly as easy as saying yes or no - there is so much that needs to factored in to be truly fair. I want to say yes. I think back to every awesome, motivating, inspiring, and influential teacher I have had and think about all the time, effort and energy they put into reaching each and every student and I want them to be rewarded - I believe the many successful students they have helped to shape is reward enough but of course a little extra compensation for their efforts would not be unwelcome. But then, I think about every teacher that I have had or have been lucky enough to work with that fall into this category - awesome, motivating, inspiring, and influential to say the least - that struggle with improving student performance due to the growing number of apathetic students taking up seats in their ever-growing classrooms.

Every student is capable of learning, being a teacher hasn't completely killed that belief for me yet, but a full understanding of what it takes to teach the student who does not want to be taught needs to exist in those considering extra compensation for teachers tied to improving student achievement. In some cases, an awesome teacher can get through to that apathetic student but the energy this takes is draining and that is with just one student. Today the number of apathetic students is on the rise right along with the class-size in classrooms across America! So what was once exhausting is now converging upon impossible.

So why do some teachers have great amounts of success in increasing student achievement? It is in answering this question that the complexity in tying teacher compensation to student achievement can really be seen. The teacher alone is not the only factor in student achievement. So much more contributes to student success including many factors that teachers have no control over.

One such example is the home environment of the students. Are the students encouraged at home? Do the parents or guardians instill the value of education in their children? Do the students have responsibilities that way surpass that of a normal teenager - raising siblings and working to support the family? I believe a teacher faces the challenge every day of taking the time to get to know their students and what challenges face them that could negatively impact theiir ability to learn, especially in the home environment - this is part of the job description of a teacher and one that I know

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