A Meta-Analysis of Teacher Merit Pay and Student Achievement

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Going for Broke: For-Profit, Merit Pay, and the Cost to Become a Teacher

Abstract

In recent years, teacher merit pay programs have garnered considerable political and financial support, spurring rapid growth in the number of research studies investigating the association between teacher pay incentives and student test scores. The burgeoning research literature on this topic presents a novel opportunity to synthesize our understanding of merit pay and its influence on student test scores. This study fills that role as a meta-analysis of reported findings from 44 primary studies. Our meta-analysis finds that the presence of a merit pay program is associated with a modest, statistically significant, positive effect on student test scores (0.052 standard deviations) and that effect sizes are highly sensitive to program design and study context.

Authors

• Lam Pham, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College

• Tuan D Nguyen, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College

• Matthew G. Springer, Vanderbilt University