The top 10% of Queensland primary school teachers are twice as effective as the bottom 10%, according to research in 2007 by one of Australia’s top education experts, and now federal Labor MP for Canberra, Dr Andrew Leigh (How can we improve teacher quality?).

Indeed, across Australia, our best teachers are paid too little, and our worst teachers are paid too much.  Our education systems largely promote teachers based on time served rather than objective measures of performance (e.g., improvements in test scores by students, or ratings by fellow staff members or, more controversially, by students).

To get the best people into the teaching profession we need to pay the best teachers more.  One way to do this is through a bonus scheme or performance pay.  As noted by Dr Leigh in his AFR piece earlier this week (Schools and Growth):

During the election, Federal Labor promised to implement a performance pay system that will see the top 10 percent of teachers paid rewards worth around $8000 per teacher. Under the proposal, performance will be based on criteria set out by the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership, including raising student achievement and assisting other teachers.

The Government will be hoping that the Australian experience with bonus pay for teachers is better than the US experience.  A recent Vanderbilt University / RAND Corporation study shows that performance pay for teachers does not in itself lead to improved test scores for students, raising doubts about its value as a policy measure. You can read more about the study here:

Teacher performance pay alone does not raise student test scores

Possibly the best teachers aren’t in it for the money but for the enjoyment of the job and the intangible rewards that come through the education and development of their students.

Regardless, teacher bonus pay will prove an interesting policy experiment, as Dr Leigh, a well-known proponent of policy experiments, would appreciate.  If it works then all is well and good, but if it doesn’t we will have learned something valuable about what motivates teachers and whether bonus payments will spur them on to better performance.