Abstract
Although not a new issue in American education, merit pay has seldom been subjected to empirical investigation. Several aspects of the issue were examined in this study conducted in three elementary schools. Teachers were asked to rate themselves and each of their peers with respect to “deservedness” for merit pay. The school principals also rated each staff member. Additional attitude measures were also gathered. In all three schools, teachers were able to discriminate between the most and least deserving teachers, but fine discriminations were not reliably made at the high end of the continuum. A high correlation (r = .73) was found between peer and principal ratings. Neither, however, significantly correlated with self ratings. Self ratings were also found to be significantly higher than both peer and principal ratings. Teaching experience was not found to be related to peer ratings, principal ratings, or attitude toward merit pay. Teachers rated highly were also found to feel no more favorably than low rated staff members toward the concept of merit pay.
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