Florida Teacher Merit Pay Law

Florida Gov. Rick Scott recently signed into law SB 736. Under the new law, teachers will be paid based on their students' performance on standardized tests. In order to make sure this law works toward achieving the goal of improving the quality of education in our state, some important questions must first be addressed:

• How do we deal with teachers who, seeing their livelihood tied directly to their students' test scores, may be tempted to take unethical action, such as giving students answers to the tests?
• How do we create and administer tests that will accurately and fairly assess students' learning gains in such a wide variety of subjects?
• How do we safeguard honest and hard-working teachers who strive to maintain a rigorous learning environment from being sabotaged by disruptive students?

I propose the following solutions to some of the real problems posed by these three basic, yet far-reaching questions related to the new law.

First and foremost, the highest standards of ethics should be encouraged when it comes to the administration of these tests, and clear conflicts of interest must be avoided at all costs. One way to do this would be to have the tests proctored by a different teacher. For example, each teacher can proctor the testing of another teacher's students, so that no teacher proctors his/her own students' tests. 

As for the creation of the tests themselves, the only way to make sure they are as effective as possible is to involve teachers in the process, both conceptually and financially. Teachers should play an important and direct role in the creation of these new tests. Teachers should also share in the substantial profits these test-creation companies are poised to earn by making profit-sharing an additional part of all teachers' compensation packages. 

Finally, while I've addressed how to keep teachers honest and how to keep the test-creation companies honest, it is also important to address how to keep the students honest. Because creating and maintaining a safe and positive learning environment in the classroom is now more important than ever, teachers must be allowed, with the full and unconditional support of school administrators, the ability and power to permanently remove any and all students who consistently undermine the educational process. This will ensure that the students who remain in the classroom are interested in being active learners while the disruptive and apathetic students can be placed in a separate environment tailored specifically for them.

As a high school math teacher, I am at the forefront of this issue, and I offer these ideas not only to be expanded on, but also as excellent first steps toward making sure this new law signed by Gov. Scott indeed improves the quality of education for students across Florida.