Research on performance pay for teachers

The report is divided into four main sections.  The first section provides background, including a brief history of performance-based pay and a typology of the three types of performance pay discussed in the report – merit pay, knowledge- and skills-based pay, and professional certification.

The second section provides an overview of current pay arrangements and collective enterprise bargaining agreements for teachers in Australian schools.  Within these arrangements, the report gives particular attention to provisions for performance-based pay schemes and to identifying potential impediments to the introduction of performance-based pay for teachers. 

The third section provides an overview of recent Australian and international research on the attitudes of stakeholders to performance-based pay schemes for teachers and the impact of these schemes on, for example, teacher retention, improved teaching standards, improved student outcomes and recognition of accomplished teachers.

The fourth section offers some suggestions about further research that would be valuable in assessing the value and/or acceptance of performance-based pay for teachers in the Australian context.