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LSE study of the Green Paper pay system for teachers and its effects
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No. | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | |
2 | The principle of relating teachers' pay to performance is a good one | 63 | 12 | 24 |
4 | The principle that individual teachers' pay should take some account of pupil progress is a good one | 56 | 17 | 27 |
3 | Teachers' pay should reflect the demands of the post and not the performance of individuals | 11 | 11 | 77 |
16 | The salary levels above the Threshold are too low to make me want to work harder in order to get them | 14 | 39 | 36 |
6 | The best way to reward good teaching is to raise existing salary levels for all teachers | 12 | 9 | 79 |
21 | Linking pay with the Performance Review will result in a fairer allocation of pay | 70 | 15 | 11 |
Note: in this, and similar tables in this article, the figures show row percentages, omitting 'don't knows'. Thus 63% disagreed with the principle of performance pay (Q2), 12% were 'neutral', and 24% 'agreed', and 1% (not shown) did not know.
The Green Paper stresses the positive arguments for improving rewards and incentives, but much of the teachers' response is likely to be conditioned by what they believe are its true objectives. Here, there is general scepticism about the professed goal of raising pupil achievements, and a strong suspicion that there is a hidden agenda of minimising the cost of uprating teachers' salaries, and of getting more work out of them. This is clear from the belief that financial constraints will impose a 'quota' so that many deserving teachers will not be allowed to pass the Threshold. Signs of teachers feeling the 'under siege' can be seen in the large number who believe they cannot work any harder than they do, and that they usually lose out whenever things change in education.
No. | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | |
8 | The Green Paper pay system is designed to raise pupil achievements | 58 | 22 | 13 |
9 | The Green Paper pay system is a device to avoid paying more money to all teachers | 9 | 18 | 68 |
10 | For all that is said about pupil attainments, the Green Paper pay system is simply a device to get more work done. | 14 | 26 | 54 |
20 | In practice, many excellent teachers will not pass the Threshold because there is certain to be a quota on places available | 3 | 8 | 82 |
14 | Whenever changes are made in education teachers usually lose out in the end | 10 | 22 | 66 |
13 | It is very hard for teachers like me to improve our performance because we already work as hard as we possibly can | 6 | 6 | 88 |
6. Marsden D.W, and French S. (1998) What a performance: performance related pay in the public services. Centre for Economic Performance Special Report, London School of Economics.
7. 'Teachers' attitudes to the Green Paper', NOP Survey for the NASUWT, January 1999. 'Teachers' Threshold Survey. Tabulations and report prepared by NOP Research Group for the NASUWT', September 1999/430817.
Copyright © London School of Economics and Political Science 2000