Internship: Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality

Summary

The purpose of this project was to inform debate about teacher pay by examining alternative pay structures emerging in response to new needs in the education system. In Canada, teachers are typically paid on a single-salary basis. Pay structures have been shown to significantly impact the ways that teachers direct their energies, inside and outside of the classroom. Several American school districts have started to explore differential pay structures, such as merit pay, pay-for-performance, or demand related pay. This project examined several options for pay reforms in the Canadian context, drawing some general policy recommendations based on the outcomes of projects implemented in the United States.

Grant Outputs

Alternative Teacher Compensation Systems – http://maxbell.org/sites/default/files/018.pdf

This report examines teacher compensation systems that differ from the standard single-salary pay structure common to Canadian school districts. After assessing nine different case studies, the report concludes with a series of policy recommendations for restructuring teacher pay plans. These include the importance of active collaboration with all interested stakeholders including teachers, teachers’ unions, parents, school districts, etc. The report suggests that all teacher evaluations should be standardized, comprehensible, and where necessary teachers should be provided with training in order to understand and meet new compensation requirements. Finally, the report concludes that since any new compensation structure will undoubtedly face challenges to implementation, the political will and funding must be adequate to support the long term implementation of new systems.