Merit-based pay backed by many Australian teachers

A significant number of Australia’s teachers support merit-based pay, a survey finds.

Around a quarter of respondents to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations survey agreed or strongly agreed that "higher pay for teachers whose students achieved higher goals" would retain teachers.

The national survey of 13,000 teachers, almost a third of the profession, found that two in three believed schools had difficulty retaining staff. Of that group, 70 per cent believed paying more to the most competent and those with extra qualifications would help stem the exodus.

Around 75 percent believed that teacher professional standards should be used in performance appraisal processes.

The survey underlined the lack of a competitive pay structure for teachers, with three-quarters of principals reporting the majority of teachers were paid according to an incremental pay scale, with progression based largely on years of service.

The survey identified chronic teaching shortages across the nation, and in a broader range of specialist areas than previously reported.

The survey found that, in high schools, the biggest shortage was among maths teachers, with 10 percent of schools unable to fill a job at the beginning of 2006, rising to 13 percent by the end of the year. Almost one in five schools re-advertised the same job throughout that year.

Meanwhile, Australia's education minister, Julia Gillard, is backing merit-based pay for teachers and wants to overhaul the salary structure to help retain high-quality teachers, the Australian has reported.

Resources

The Staff in Australian Schools survey was conducted by Australian Council for Educational Research and the Australian College of Educators. It is at this web page.

A story in the Australian on the survey is at this web page.

A Sydney Morning Herald story is at this web page.

A story in the Australian on Julia Gillard's views is at this web page.