Performance-based pay for teachers gets a nod

Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer

Sharon Watt, culture teacher at Ashton All-Age School in Westmoreland obviously, enjoys her job. - photo by Dalton Laing

The vexed issue of teacher performance-based pay has encountered mixed comments from teachers, as well as persons outside the profession.

Despite this, several senior educators have come out in support of the concept of performance-based pay as one of several incentives aimed at encouraging teachers to remain in the classroom.

At a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum on teacher education with members of the Joint Board of Teacher Education (JBTE), incentives for teachers based on classroom performance was considered important to encouraging excellence.

Dr Moses Peart, lecturer in instructional design and education, said the JBTE, with the support of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, had been working to institute incentive-driven performance-based programmes such as the master teachers programme.

Under this programme introduced in 1999, professional teachers who have excelled in their specialist areas are encouraged to remain in the school system.

These teachers are generally paid more than their regular colleagues.

Peart added that the JBTE had identified 60 master teachers, noting that while some had been promoted, others had either moved on to other jobs or had migrated.

performance-based pay

Peart's colleague, Professor Stanley Griffith, professor of education measurement and assessment who is also an advocate for performance-based pay, believes standards should be established, as well as met by teachers seeking to stay in the profession.

He said that if teachers failed to do their job regardless of whether or not they received performance-based pay, it would require taking the necessary steps to correct this.

"The Ministry of Education is already declaring that it plans to pursue a programme which will take those kinds of measures and they're not starting with punitive measures," said Griffith.

"I do support the direction recognising areas where teachers were not doing well might be helped and that's where we should keep that positive look."

Asked whether the JBTE intended to seek responsibility for licensing and deregistering teachers, Peart said the Ministry of Education would best determine this.

However, he said the board would continue to focus on quality assurance and professional development building.

" I don't think we, who are concerned with professional development and the enhancement of skills ongoing really want to be at that end point," said Peart.

"But we contribute to it as we help to determine the standards, so we're concerned about that."

Griffith and Peart