{"id":4065,"date":"2017-06-17T14:59:33","date_gmt":"2017-06-17T19:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065"},"modified":"2024-04-15T18:53:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T23:53:29","slug":"kerrys-education-plan-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065","title":{"rendered":"Kerry’s Education Plan (2004)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Raise test Scores – win a prize<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

by Gary Stager<\/a>
District Administration, Aug 2004
<\/a>8\/1\/2004<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

I was horrified by recent news referring to U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s education platform. The newsflash reported that if elected president, Kerry would reward teachers for increased student achievement. The news media may have over-simplified a more comprehensive policy statement or the Kerry campaign may have distributed this bumper sticker slogan for its own purposes. Either hypothesis is plausible since there is so little thoughtful discourse on the status or future of public education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book, Political Leadership and Educational Failure<\/a>, Seymour Sarason reminds us that although we expect that our elected officials will be briefed by the best and brightest experts when concerned with issues of taxation, highway resurfacing or sewage, no such expectation exists for discussions of education policy. Members of both parties seem to increase in ignorance proportionate to their proximity to schooling decisions. After all, U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy cosponsored No Child Left Behind<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Taken at face value, reports of the Kerry proposal could suggest either a generous desire to increase teacher pay or a cynical scheme to pander to the electorate. While I’m supportive of dramatic increases in teacher compensation, merit pay is a mischievous idea that continues to plague public education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the key to educational quality a tip jar for teachers?<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In a Harvard Business Review article<\/a>, Alfie Kohn states, “… at least two dozen studies over the last three decades have conclusively shown that people who expect to receive a reward for completing a task … simply do not perform as well as those who expect no reward at all. … Incentives [or bribes] simply can’t work in the workplace.” You don’t have to agree with fuzzy teacher lovers like Kohn. The week of the Kerry announcement I read articles in Business Week <\/em>and Business 2.0<\/em> stating unequivocally that incentive pay does not work in the workplace. W. Edward Demings opposes the destructive effects of merit pay as do Peopleware<\/a> authors, Lister and DeMarco. They detail how extrinsic rewards and performance reviews contribute to teamicide, the unintentional destruction of well-jelled teams. Most people believe they do the best job possible and reviews that merely reflect this fact lead to disappointment, lower morale and drive a wedge between colleagues. Even seemingly innocuous schemes like “employee of the month” do little to motivate excellent employees, but can increase resentment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Countless psychologists have demonstrated how extrinsic rewards are unsustainable since the bribe must be continuously increased in order to maintain the same level of performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Enemies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps teachers are different. Could it be that they are more mercenary than Enron employees or waiters jockeying for tips? If it doesn’t work in industry, why is it constantly touted asthe cure for all educational ills? Merit pay is a ridiculous idea for improving teacher quality for a number of reasons. Let me share a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers are not in it for the money. Remuneration is low on the list of reasons why people become and remain educators. While all teachers would prefer to earn more money, it is not a high priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merit pay shifts all responsibility to teachers. Teachers would like to be treated more professionally and have their judgment trusted. Merit pay denies teachers autonomy through a top-down manipulation, yet holds them responsible for student performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student performance is based on multiple factors. A good teacher can make a huge impact on the life and development of a student. However, human development is complex and learning is not merely the result of being taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merit pay makes students the enemy. Linking teacher pay to test score increases invariably leads to teacher resentment of the very kids they are employed to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Teach for Bonuses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The message implicit in political demands for pay linked to accountability is that teachers are failing to assist students until they get an extra food pellet. Demonizing teachers is so much easier than assuming responsibility for meaningful education policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to his campaign Web site, Senator Kerry appears to offer a more comprehensive, less punitive vision for public education. Regardless of this November’s election results, I hope public policy will lead a serious national effort to benefit children without scapegoating teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gary Stager,\u00a0gary@stager.org<\/a>, is editor at-large and an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University. [2004 bio]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raise test Scores – win a prize by Gary StagerDistrict Administration, Aug 20048\/1\/2004 I was horrified by recent news referring to U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[577,1494,1389,1493,1388,1495,676],"class_list":["post-4065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classic-stager","tag-alfie-kohn","tag-district-administration","tag-education-policy","tag-john-kerry","tag-merit-pay","tag-rewards","tag-seymour-sarason"],"yoast_head":"\nKerry's Education Plan (2004) - Stager-to-Go<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Raise test Scores - win a prize!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kerry's 2004 Education Plan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Raise test Scores - win a prize!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stager-to-Go\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gary.stager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-17T19:59:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-15T23:53:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-2-715x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gary Stager\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Kerry's 2004 Education Plan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Raise test Scores - win a prize!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@garystager\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@garystager\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gary Stager\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gary Stager\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bd320bea4758fc56f376ecdd9b8b184\"},\"headline\":\"Kerry’s Education Plan (2004)\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-17T19:59:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-15T23:53:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065\"},\"wordCount\":730,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/image-2-209x300.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Alfie Kohn\",\"District Administration\",\"education policy\",\"John Kerry\",\"merit pay\",\"rewards\",\"seymour sarason\"],\"articleSection\":[\"classic Stager\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065\",\"name\":\"Kerry's Education Plan (2004) - Stager-to-Go\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/image-2-209x300.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-17T19:59:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-15T23:53:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bd320bea4758fc56f376ecdd9b8b184\"},\"description\":\"Raise test Scores - win a prize!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/image-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/image-2.png\",\"width\":1285,\"height\":1841},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?p=4065#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kerry’s Education Plan (2004)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stager-to-Go\",\"description\":\"The personal blog of Gary S. Stager, Ph.D.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bd320bea4758fc56f376ecdd9b8b184\",\"name\":\"Gary Stager\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/Gary-gravatar.png\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/Gary-gravatar.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/Gary-gravatar.png\",\"caption\":\"Gary Stager\"},\"description\":\"Veteran educator Gary Stager, Ph.D. is the author of Twenty Things to Do with a Computer - Forward 50, co-author of\u00a0Invent To Learn \u2014 Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, publisher at\u00a0Constructing Modern Knowledge Press,\u00a0and the founder of the\u00a0Constructing Modern Knowledge\u00a0summer institute. He led professional development in the world\u2019s first 1:1 laptop schools thirty years ago and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Gary is also the curator of The Seymour Papert archives at DailyPapert.com. Learn more about\u00a0Gary here.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/cmkpress.com\\\/gary\"],\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/stager.tv\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kerry's Education Plan (2004) - Stager-to-Go","description":"Raise test Scores - win a prize!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kerry's 2004 Education Plan","og_description":"Raise test Scores - win a prize!","og_url":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065","og_site_name":"Stager-to-Go","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gary.stager\/","article_published_time":"2017-06-17T19:59:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-15T23:53:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":715,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-2-715x1024.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Gary Stager","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Kerry's 2004 Education Plan","twitter_description":"Raise test Scores - win a prize!","twitter_creator":"@garystager","twitter_site":"@garystager","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gary Stager","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065"},"author":{"name":"Gary Stager","@id":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/8bd320bea4758fc56f376ecdd9b8b184"},"headline":"Kerry’s Education Plan (2004)","datePublished":"2017-06-17T19:59:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-15T23:53:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065"},"wordCount":730,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-2-209x300.png","keywords":["Alfie Kohn","District Administration","education policy","John Kerry","merit pay","rewards","seymour sarason"],"articleSection":["classic Stager"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065","url":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065","name":"Kerry's Education Plan (2004) - Stager-to-Go","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-2-209x300.png","datePublished":"2017-06-17T19:59:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-15T23:53:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/8bd320bea4758fc56f376ecdd9b8b184"},"description":"Raise test Scores - win a prize!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-2.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/image-2.png","width":1285,"height":1841},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4065#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kerry’s Education Plan (2004)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/#website","url":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/","name":"Stager-to-Go","description":"The personal blog of Gary S. Stager, Ph.D.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/#\/schema\/person\/8bd320bea4758fc56f376ecdd9b8b184","name":"Gary Stager","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Gary-gravatar.png","url":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Gary-gravatar.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Gary-gravatar.png","caption":"Gary Stager"},"description":"Veteran educator Gary Stager, Ph.D. is the author of Twenty Things to Do with a Computer - Forward 50, co-author of\u00a0Invent To Learn \u2014 Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, publisher at\u00a0Constructing Modern Knowledge Press,\u00a0and the founder of the\u00a0Constructing Modern Knowledge\u00a0summer institute. He led professional development in the world\u2019s first 1:1 laptop schools thirty years ago and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Gary is also the curator of The Seymour Papert archives at DailyPapert.com. Learn more about\u00a0Gary here.","sameAs":["http:\/\/cmkpress.com\/gary"],"url":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?author=2"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4065"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7124,"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4065\/revisions\/7124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}