Teacher Pay And Student Performance

Published: August 8, 2019

Teaching is an underpaid profession. As a result, the quality of teachers is below what it would be if compensation were similar to industries of comparably skilled workers. However, merely raising pay across the board is not the answer. It is equally important to ensure that higher salaries go to the most effective teachers.

Discussion Questions

1. What makes a teacher effective?
2. Can raising teacher’s pay across the board attract high skilled individuals?
3. Should teachers be paid based on performance?

Additional Resources

• Read “Do Smarter Teachers Make Smarter Students?” by Eric Hanushek, Marc Piopiunik, and Simon Wiederhold. Available here.
• To read the academic paper this research is based on, read “Do Smarter Teachers Make Smarter Students? International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance” by Eric Hanushek, Marc Piopiunik, and Simon Wiederhold, Available here.
• In “We Need Better Teachers,” Eric Hanushek argues that for the sake of K-12 students, we need to validate and reward our best instructors and get rid of our worst ones. Available here.
• Read “Do Smarter Teachers Make Smarter Students?” by Eric Hanushek, Marc Piopiunik, and Simon Wiederhold, available here.