Current teachers' compensation systems and their perceived effects on motivation

A study on alternative teacher compensation models and a look at their effect on motivation from the use of different rewards and performance evaluation methods. Almost all school systems in this country compensate teachers based on what is called a single salary schedule. This system makes little or no connection between the performance or productivity of teachers and the money they receive.;The primary impetus for this study was practical and the purpose was to provide data to assist in the development of an effective compensation system for teachers. More specifically, this study sought to identify the opinions of public and private school teachers in regard to preference for types of compensation plans, types of rewards, objectives of a compensation plan and requirements for a performance evaluation system.;If human resources are clearly the biggest costs in operating school systems, then a significant issue is teachers' concern with salaries, administrators' concern for attracting good people into the teaching profession and community concern that increased expenditures for teacher salaries have not improved education. Therefore, one rationale for changing teacher pay systems is to encourage the public to provide more money for schools and, thus, teacher salaries as well.;The idea of linking job performance with pay has never really caught on in the public schools although it is commonly used outside the field of education. Three promising new elements that could be included in a revised teacher compensation structure include: (1) competency-based pay; (2) contingency-based pay; and (3) collective school-based performance awards.