OECD Report highly critical of performance pay for teachers

17 May 2012

OECD Report highly critical of performance pay for teachers

The education sector union, NZEI Te Riu Roa says a recently released OECD report on performance pay for teachers has raised serious concerns about how performance-based pay impacts on the quality of teaching.

National Secretary Paul Goulter says the report has highlighted many of the concerns that education professionals have been trying to tell the government.

The report has found that there is no relationship between student performance and the use of performance-based pay schemes.

The OECD report says a policy that helps teachers to become innovators and researchers in education and not just servants who deliver curricula is the best approach for raising teacher quality.

“The issue is - what are the measures we need to use? This is where the necessary debate starts and NZEI Te Riu Roa welcomes the opportunity to be involved in the debate,” says Mr Goulter.

“Teachers would support remuneration based on a system that recognizes expertise based on good quality evidence from practice-based performance.”

“But National Standards simply do not provide any basis for discussion because what is absolutely clear is that performance pay based on dodgy National Standards would have a detrimental effect on our education system.”

“Let’s not forget that we have one of the highest quality public education systems in the world.”

“We will work with the government to build a pay system that is based on evidence, is fair and lifts quality teaching and learning.”

ENDS

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