ONE in eight teachers would be denied performance-related pay next year if judged solely on their pupils’ results, according to the National Union of Teachers.
The union is concerned that many excellent teachers will be barred from receiving performance-related pay because of the need to prove direct impact on pupils’ performance.
Their claim is based on an
analysis of a report by consultants Hay McBer by Professor David Reynolds. This found that 13 per cent of teachers with “outstanding” characteristics did not add value to pupils’ results.
This, the NUT says, means thousands of outstanding staff could miss out on performance-related pay rises. Some 197,000 teachers have applied for the “threshold” performance pay rise.
In fact, te NUT expects only 3 per cent of teachers to fail to cross the threshold this year, as it be-lieves the Government is anxious to win support for the scheme. But it is worried over future years, when it fears the Government may apply stricter criteria.
A Government spokesman claimed that comparisons between the Hay McBer report and Professor Reynolds’ work were invalid because they had used different research methodologies. He also pointed out that pupil progress was only one of eight areas in threshold assessments.
Writing in today’s TES, Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT says:
“Background factors over which teachers have no control undermine the validity of pupil progress being used for pay assessment.”
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