Too many variables for performance-based pay

Collin Greenland, Contributor

To his credit, Education Minister Andrew Holness, in an address to the Jamaica Employers' Federation, acknowledged that measuring a teacher's contribution to a student's performance was a complex issue, as many factors impacted on the learning process.

One of the best studies this writer has seen on the topic was published in 2008 by ACER Press, on behalf of the Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd, titled Research on Performance Pay for Teachers. Research over the last 100 years or so has unearthed many examples of performance-related pay schemes, especially in the United States, and many more schemes have appeared in recent years in other countries as well, such as England, Sweden and Singapore. In general, performance-based pay schemes have been classified into three main types: merit pay, knowledge and skills-based, and certification-based approaches.

Attempts to apply many of the findings of these international studies to the Jamaican environment may not only be misguided but suicidal. Many of these studies are conducted within jurisdictions far more 'resourced' than Jamaica and do not suffer the plethora of ills that plague us locally. Designing and monitoring appropriate merit/ performance-type programmes in Jamaica could be a bureaucratic nightmare.

Complexity

Camperdown High School's principal, Cynthia Cooke, in her Gleaner article on March 17, 2009, offered an example of the complexity of the issue, based on her experiences. She compared the failures of a "college-trained" teacher to the impressive achievements of another with just a bachelor's degree. Mrs Cooke's experiences concur with the essential point highlighted in the above-mentioned Australian report, i.e. a valid and reliable scheme for assessing individual-teacher performance for high-stakes decisions, therefore, requires multiple, independent sources of evidence and multiple, independent trained assessors of that evidence. This means that any single strategy, such as measures of student achievement on standardised achievement tests, cannot alone provide a reliable basis for making performance-related pay decisions about the efforts of individual teachers.

Performance pay schemes also need to include evidence about the context in which a teacher is operating in making judgements about the quality of delivery. For example, how could we compare the results of Ruel Reid, Jamaica College's principal, who has a robust board and dynamic alumni who just built a $100-million auditorium, against another school with an inept board and substandard infrastructure?

Not only could goodwill and cooperation between teachers be compromised, but without effective controls, dishonesty and corruption could increase from intangibles like principal favouritism. The system could be bogged down with complaints and lawsuits, thus distracting the nation from the energies and attention needed to educate our youth.

Evaluation instruments

As suggested in the Australian study, teaching standards should include a wide range of elements such as 'creating productive learning environment', 'knowledge of content', 'promoting student learning' and 'contribution to school and professional community', among others. Assessment of a teacher's performance against each of these standards for high-stakes decisions calls for very different types, as well as multiple forms, of evidence. For example, student evaluation instruments (and parent feedback) can provide reliable measures of class environment. Also, whereas paper and pencil tests are a valid means of gathering evidence about the currency of a teacher's content and pedagogical knowledge, direct evidence that students are learning what the teacher is expected to teach is also essential.

The debate appears settled, however, as Minister Holness has publicly stated that he is moving more in the direction of performance-based contracts with minimum standards relating to attendance, contact hours, efficiency and conduct. The Jamaica Teachers' Association president, Nadine Molloy-Young, has indicated that her association opposes even this form of performance-based pay. Again, Mrs Molloy-Young pointed out to the lack of resources as a limitation, and in a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum lobbied for the urgent repositioning of education in Jamaica.

The two positions need not be diametrically opposed. Yes, we need to reposition education, putting it in the forefront of our minds, and the best way to do so is to start with the resources allocated. We cannot, however, await the full-fledged performance-based system before we demand high standards of performance from not only our teachers, but all other professionals in this beloved island.

Collin Greenland is president of the Jamaica College Parent-Teacher Association. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and cgreeny.collin@gmail.com.