VELSHI: OK. In "Chalk Talk" today, a new study questions the benefit of teacher merit pay, which is weird, because we think everybody should get paid based on their performance. Nashville's Vanderbilt University did what is billed as the first scientifically rigorous test of merit pay for teachers. The results? Merit pay did nothing to raise student test scores. The study looks at 296 middle school math teachers from 2006 to 2009. Half of the teachers were eligible for bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 if their students scored significantly higher than expected on a Tennessee assessment test. Fifty-one of the eligible teachers got a bonus at least once. That's about 34 percent. Only 18 teachers got bonuses all three years. But overall, the students didn't test better or learn faster than those taught by teachers who were not eligible for bonuses. Education Secretary Arne Duncan believes otherwise. The Department of Education continues to put a great deal of emphasis on getting school districts to try merit pay systems as part of the Race to the Top competition. When asked about the results of this study, a spokesman for Duncan said, "While this is a good study, it only looked at the narrow question of whether more pay motivates teachers to try harder." He says it did not address the Obama administration's push to change the culture of teaching by giving all educators the feedback they need to get better. We will continue to look at the study tomorrow. The head researcher will join us, and I'm going to ask some tough questions. When Eddie Long preaches, his flock of 25,000 are all ears. Now they are definitely listening, because their leader is being sued for alleged sexual misconduct. Details and a live report next.
Study: Merit Pay Doesn't Work