Efficacy and Complexities of Performance-Based Pay for Teachers in the United States

Performance-based pay refers to providing compensation and rewards based on the fulfillment of certain predetermined task or outcomes. In the momentum for greater teacher accountability in the United States, performance-based pay is expected to be a solution to the nation’s prevailing problems in attracting, maintaining, and motivating the best and most effective teachers. This article reviews relevant literature on the historical context of teacher compensation, the need for reform, the development of performance-based compensation schemes, empirical lessons from the application of such scheme in Denver school district, as well as the challenges in designing and implementing performance-based pay for teachers.