Abstract
A study was conducted to determine attitudes of Texas secondary school professional personnel toward educational merit pay systems. Nine hundred twenty-three replies were received from principals and teachers who were asked to respond to eighteen commonly held advantages and disadvantages of merit pay as manifested throughout the literature on merit pay concepts. The respondents were classified into professional categories including principals from large and small schools, teachers from large and small schools, academic and vocational teachers, and beginning and experienced teachers. All educator groups in the study expressed a neutral attitude on composite scores of the questionnaire; however, some individual statements revealed positive or negative attitudes toward certain aspects of merit pay. The educators were slightly positive toward the basic concept of merit pay, which is to reward financially those educators determined to be most effective. They further agreed that a merit pay function might invigorate the profession; however, they did feel that educators were not members of the profession for money alone, but rather felt a self-fulfillment through membership. The major concern of all groups was the issue of implementation and administration of merit pay systems. In a comparison of attitudes between groups of educators, the author found that all groups, with the exception of principals from large and small schools, expressed no significant difference in attitudes. Professional personnel in Texas secondary public schools were knowledgeable of merit pay issues. The basic concept of merit pay is very much a part of their professional background and knowledge, although most had little knowledge of industrial merit pay practice. The author highly recommends that any district or state considering a merit pay system involve professional practitioners at the grass roots level. Many systems in the past failed partially because the professional staff was not effectively involved in the planning and implementation phases of merit pay systems.
Brooks, Jordan Allen (1979). An analysis of selected Texas public secondary school professional staff attitudes toward merit pay. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -145505.