Merit Pay Article (Wi. Newspaper) I Like It

[Dinger]

http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/article/20090426/CWS0101/904260635/1980

Not sure if I like how it's titled though.

"Educators unsure how to grade teachers for merit-based pay
BY ASHLEY A. SMITH • CENTRAL WISCONSIN SUNDAY • APRIL 26, 2009


For many teachers, it's a touchy subject -- how to measure whether they are effective in the classroom.



As Washington moves closer to rewriting the federal No Child Left Behind law, one idea that has been simmering is if merit pay or linking teachers to student test scores would lead to higher quality teaching.

"What President Obama and (Education Secretary) Arne Duncan have talked about is what it is to professionally compensate quality teachers," said Mary Bell, president of Wisconsin Education Association Council. "There really aren't any specific proposals and they're talking in general terms, but we want to be a part of those discussions."

Bell said she sees the alternative compensation packages possibly being pay scales agreed on by teachers unions and administrators and would be tied to measures such as improvement in student and district performance.

"But how do you measure each of those is very complicated," Bell said. "When students in an entire school succeed, it's bigger than individual teachers. And how do you measure an art or music teacher, or a librarian? We know from research that all of them are just as important." . . "