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Education Secretary Arne Duncan Says Merit Pay Should Be Tied to Student Growth

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Dear Mr. Duncan,
Two letters from U.S. News and World Reports comments on the "Best" High Schools in America. From sea to shining sea……….
from Virginia:
TJHSST and the Office of Civil Rights decision
In July 2009, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) found compliance concerns with "Particularly the School" (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology) in the areas of health, transportation and instruction regarding a disabled student. I understand from two national non-profit organizations and local school district personnel that it is very unusual for the Office of Civil Rights to require a school to reimburse money to the family and submit evaluation documents to the OCR in the future. It suggests the OCR considers this non-compliance pretty substantial.
Although the student did not have a lawyer for the OCR complaint, the school/district did. Jennifer Jaff, Executive Director of Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, Inc. wrote "I have worked with schools throughout America. Most place the student's need above their own convenience. TJ fought over issues that should have been resolved easily...". How ironic that the "#1" high school in America would not accept doctor's instructions from the #1 hospital in America. Even though previous schools already had, TJ did not.
TJ students are #1-type kids and will be at any school they attend. However, U.S. News and World Report states: a ”great high school must serve all its students well”. I agree.
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from California
Top 100 High Schools
Apparently Secretary Duncan has not read the years of Newsweek's "Top 100 High Schools". The solution to "higher performing" schools and teachers is easily seen by inspecting the gold and silver award winners.
The Rules:
1. Populate the schools with hand-picked students such as do magnet schools and private schools. Make provision for dumping under-achieving students back into the "under-performing" schools.
2. Choose heavily ethnically Asian students, preferably first-generation.
3. Choose most students from English-speaking families well-above the poverty level.
Teachers and schools following these guidelines really look good, Arne!
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Best wishes on merit pay to inspire teachers. I have seen merit "pay" (learning computer game time or “get out of dishes” coupons) work in raising my children's grades. But I do require them to not use another’s work, not exclude others and not use too many supplies on just their own goals. When you visited TJ, you expressed that you wished more students had such resources. I do too. Too much, for too few. Time to share……

Shirley Bridges of VA 7:21AM December 18, 2009

Public Education is nothing but the factory of good Socialist/Communists, period end of discussion. The Founding Fathers would be shocked were they to rise and find that the Federal Government has fully taken control of the education of America's youngsters. To add insult to injury if parents wish to educate their children in the School of their choice, most of the time of their Church affiliation, these parents are actually punished with what ends to be double taxation. Yes, these parents have to pay taxes to the government to run the public schools and they also have to pay tuition, right? If these is Democracy at work when Christian parents are punished with double taxation? I am speaking by experience!

H. D. Schmidt of CA 12:30AM December 17, 2009

Merit pay is nice why not? Instead of merit pay, why not give a teacher helper to help on paper work. Also, I had urinary tract infection because I can't just leave my students by themselves. I need to delay going to the restroom.. Most of the time , I need to wait until lunchtime.I also limit myself drinking water to lessen the problem of going to the restroom. " Health is Wealth". I prefer a teacher helper than a merit pay.

Lyn of LA 8:00PM December 16, 2009

Having come from a state in which merit pay did work to increase student performance, I can say that it can work. However, individual teachers were not rewarded per se. Teachers were rewarded monetarily with a smaller amount if 85% of the students "met their goal," which was one year's growth according to the standardized state tests. If 90% met the goal, more money was awarded. ALL teachers within the school received the bonus, so that pre-K teachers, K-2 teachers, special education teachers, specialists, counselors, etc. were seen as "part of the solution." Students' scores were only compared to their own scores the year before. Third graders took a pretest at the beginning of the year and used that score as a baseline. It was a great system, and more and more schools qualified each year as scores rose higher and higher. That was without such a tight economy.
However, as budget cuts began to happen 2 years ago, scores were "recalculated", tests became more difficult to the point where developmentally inappropriate questions were being asked, and all of a sudden, BAM! a lot more schools suddenly didn't qualify for the "bonus." Coincidence?
I did like a lot about our state's pay for progress system. A lot about it worked. However, there were also a lot of drawbacks. What about teachers at alternate schools? What about poor teachers who still got merit pay for their coworkers' hard work who "evened" out their low scores? I will say, ironically, that the school in our district with the most economically disadvantaged students was also one of the high scorers in the district. Why? Our district purposely gave them extra resources and a lower student to teacher ratio.
It's a complicated and yet provocative issue. I will be looking forward to how it's all worked out.

Cyndi of NC 5:48PM December 16, 2009

He is right about the directions education needs to go. It is very important that schools have good leadership and many times they do not, in my own district we have weak leaders so it reflects back onto the teachers.
The other valid point he makes is having high expectations and not watering down our school system. We all can name a few teachers in our district and even building that are not doing an effective job teaching our students. This creates a cycle of failure for both the student and the system.
I do not believe in merit pay but I think that administrators need to get back teachers out our field. As teachers, we cannot force our students to learn, complete homework, or engage in learning.
I can give them all the opportunities to learn, encourage them, and explain the consequences for not getting an education but I cannot change the behaviors of students especially when my administrators say that I cannot force my students to bring their textbook or homework to class.
What about the parents in the No Child Left Behind Act? Why are they not apart of this bill? As a parent, I ensure my child is getting an education but many do not but teachers are to blame for the failing education system. Many parents allow their children to fail year after year with no consequences. They are not playing a role in their lives and if students have adult mentor is that just adding one more thing to a teacher's long list of duties for a day and year?
I know that there are teachers who are too blame but many times we are hitting brick walls with both parents and administrators with educating our students. I am tired of non-educators making decisions for teachers when they are not in our field or was not successful as a teacher so went onto the next level in education, administration.

Valynda Thompson of WA 4:48PM December 16, 2009

merit pay is a joke...he didn't even answer the question that was asked of him. what about special ed? I have been asking this question ever since I heard about how duncan is pushing the merit pay idea. i have yet to hear a cogent answer to the question.

mikki of CA 3:33PM December 16, 2009

Is this why Secretary Duncan eliminated the "Mentoring Grants" program from U.S. D. E. and instead has helped to shift the same amount of money to the Departmetn of Justice for a mentoring program?
We have so many children that need mentors beyond their teacher/advisors that we need to have some funds to coordinate the adult volunteers who want to give of themselves in this significant way! Once they meet the children they are keenly aware of the social-emotional needs. We can't do this program if there's no one to coordinate it.
I hope he and the president will re-think their strategy, reinstate the mentoring grants and if any changes are to be made on this front, geometrically increase the funding for the program, so every school can conduct a successful mentoring program. If our kids don't have mentors, you can bet your bottom dollar that we (the students and the public) will all pay the extreme price for it in the end.

George Risberg of WI 2:42PM December 16, 2009

There are so many things wrong and so many things right with Mr. Duncan's theory of education. I bet if you took a survey of teachers, you would find they are unaware of the "reforms" that Mr. Duncan and our own Louisiana State Department of Education are attempting to PUSH through. Why? Who else knows best what our schools and students need to improve? At the top of the list of things wrong is the testing instrument itself and the idea that it is a valid tool. Even if it were a valid tool, it is not used properly or effectively when the graded test is not returned to the teacher for analysis. If I don't plug in my television, it's NOT GOING TO WORK!!!
The bottom line is that teachers have no advocate, no lobbyists, no political pull, no respect as professionals. I predict that when these so-called experts succeed in taking away teachers' ability to teach and to achieve personal fulfillment knowing they did their job well and helped their students, they will move on to a job that does give them the satisfaction and respect they deserve.

Lee Barrios of LA 2:30PM December 16, 2009

Let's assume teachers are paid on a student's improvement: How, then, am I paid as a teacher of talented and gifted students who reached the test ceilings long ago? How do they show improvement? Or, since I have them only a small portion of their day, maybe their success is not of my doing at all, but that of the six other teachers they have in middle school. The gifted are still "left behind" in both instruction and assessment.

Diane of IA 2:23PM December 16, 2009

Arne Duncan says he is not a believer in "absolute test scores," but wants to look at "growth and gain" in test scores. This is a distinction without a difference. Barack Obama ran on an educational platform that promised a shift away from the months spent preparing students for standardized tests. How does a focus on "growth" in test scores accomplish this?
In Race to the Top and in this interview Duncan promises to extend and deepen our systemic reliance on test scores as the primary indicator of success for students, teachers and schools. This emphasis has led to the marginalization of non-tested subjects such as science, history, art and music. Lessons are focused on checklists of standards and facts, rather than giving room for creative investigations. Middle school teachers see students coming up from elementary school who are bored to tears with school, because all it has become is drill and kill.
More than 100 letters have been written by teachers across the country to President Obama and Secretary Duncan, expressing profound dissatisfaction with this direction. This is NOT why we campaigned for Obama. See the project here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=166176941518&ref=ts

Anthony Cody of CA 2:03PM December 16, 2009