There was some interesting news in Idaho's State of the State address recently. It included telling teachers there would be no more tenure and that there would be an imposed merit pay. My mind raced to the poor job government does in putting the proper value on teaching activities presently. After thinking all sorts of rebellious thoughts I changed my approach and wondered what merit pay might look like if I were given the opportunity to create it. Although I have the ear of no influential policy maker, it made me feel good anyway. Perhaps you have some thoughts on the subject. How would you reward teachers if your state went strictly to a merit pay program?


1. Never judge them by what their students do. Students have agency and can choose to engage or not. Rather, evaluate teacher preparation, planning and actions directly. Take the steps necessary to ensure parent and student accountability.

2. Have administrators teach and model cheerfulness in every interaction. The book The Happiness Advantage makes it clear that happy people are smarter and more motivated. Though illusive, happiness in a classroom can be monitored. (page 37)

3. Have teachers teach and model the idea that effort leads to success more than IQ or popularity. Look for evidence of this teaching. (See Mindset by Carol Dweck)

4. Make sure that problem solving is a key skill taught in all classes. (Future Problem Solving is a great model.)

5. Watch to see how inventiveness is promoted in each subject.

6. Watch to see how other models of successful living are built into lessons. For example, do they show students how to use Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, or Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People.

7. To what extent and to what end do teachers use technology?

8. How do teachers promote collaboration? Train the teachers and then measure how well those ideas are presented to students.

9. How skillful are teachers at integrating their subject with other subjects to make them more relevant to their students?

10. Is differentiated vocabulary taught and tested frequently?

11. Allow teachers to choose the teaching techniques that would best benefit their teaching style and then ask them to highlight its use in their actions for you (for example Marzano's 9.)

12. Find ways to free up a teacher's time to research, publish, and present findings to their colleagues. (more on this later)

13. How creative are teachers at engaging students in their own ZPDs?

14. Make it clear that classroom visits are the administrator's way of catching and publishing a teachers' excellent teaching.
15. How good are teachers at connecting students with their own futures? (Ask me about Robin Sly's epiphany.)