Pay for performance is becoming commonplace in the business world. Pay raises and bonuses are often based on how well one performs on the job or on achieving specific results. However, this is not the case in education. Pay levels are typically based on years of experience and levels of education rather than on teacher effectiveness. As concerns about the quality of the nation's educational systems frequently appear in the

Plus most teachers saw the pay for performance system as inevitable, and therefore wanted to be involved from the start of the plan (Gratz, 2005). The pilot faced many challenges. Not the least, the district was faced with the logistical challenge of linking the students in various databases to the teachers. The internal systems for tracking student progress by teacher simply didn't exist. In addition, non-academic staff members had to

The system must measure true performance in a way that minimizes random variation, as well as undesired and unintended consequences. It must align performance with ultimate outcomes and monitor performance to discourage cheating" (p. 88). In fact, Lavy suggests that any initial incentive pay program implementation will likely be flawed in some ways, but gradual progress in achieving a viable program is possible if the foregoing considerations are taken

A detailed description and origins of pay for performance Pay-for-performance initiatives are designed to improve the efficiency, quality and general value of health care. Other terms used to refer to pay-for-performance include pay-for-quality, alternative payment, valued-based payment, among others. No matter the nomenclature, the main objective of pay-for-performance is to improve efficiency for optimal outcomes. (Rosenthal et al., 2005) During the early 1990s, many consumers opted for managed care by paying some

, 2001). Prior to 1930, thought, little attention was given to pay-for-performance in the public sector in the United States except for the blue-collar, manufacturing functions that were being primarily performed for the military. During this period in American history, government was viewed (and perhaps still is by many) as a competitive threat to private enterprise; as a result, there was not much public support for developing a highly motivated and

Pay for Performance Plan Designing a pay for performance plan for teachers is inherently challenging. The outputs for teachers are students, and their educational attainment. It is difficult to quantify educational attainment at the best of times, and because each student is different it can be difficult to specifically identify the role that an individual teacher has on aggregate student performance. The three elements of an effective pay-for-performance plan are efficiency,