Pay for Performance in America's public schools is an extremely controversial issue. Although the process has made inroads in business and is a means to help determine promotions, pay, and retention it has not been so well received in the Public schholl systems. However, there are some successful examples where teacher pay has been linked to student test scores. In Minnesota for example, some districts have stopped giving automatic raises for seniority and base 60% of all pay increases on employee performance. In Denver, unions and school districts designed an incentive program where teachers receive bonuses for student achievement and for earning national teaching certificates. However, some plans have not worked. For example, Cincinnati teachers voted against a merit pay proposal and Philadelphia teachers gave their bonus checks to charity rather than cashing them. It appears that having teachers involved in planning the incentive system is one key factor to success. The same can be said for all incentive plans - if employees don't buy into them, they will not work.

Questions to Research:

1. How could an organization measure the effectiveness of their pay-for-performance plans?

2. From an employee's perspective, what are the disadvantages of using a pay-for-performance plan?

3. From an employer's perspective, what are the disadvantages of using a pay-for-performance plan?

Research Paper Instructions:    

Your paper should be a minimum of eight (8) full pages of double written content work in 12 point font. In addition, you should include a minimum of five (5) references or sources properly formatted in APA writing style in a Reference section at the end of your paper, an abstract, and a properly formatted APA cover page with each written assignment. Your paper should analyze the readings from the text and from your research into the subject of study. You are expected to conduct outside research aside from the text to support your ideas, arguments, and opinions. Discussions of key concepts, and a critical analysis of the research is required. Remember you are to critically analyze the data you find. Merely copying pasting and citing sources does not constitute scholarly writing. You must present ideas and positions and support or refute those arguments with credible references and sources.

While assigned readings are important; you must conduct independent research of the subject matter and critically analyze the materials presented. References and sources should support your ideas, arguments, and opinions; and not be the basis of your paper. The assignment should be a scholarly paper that is designed to analyze and academically discuss what you have learned and how you can integrate the learning into an organization now and in the future. Be sure to list references in proper APA format and ensure that all listed references are also cited in text. References and citations must be congruent, meaning all listed sources are cited in text and cited sources are listed in the references section at the end of your paper.

Your paper should adhere to APA formatting requirements (APA style cover page, in-text citations for each listed reference, and a reference page are required). Please make sure to proofread carefully. Grammar and spelling errors will affect the grading. It is very important that your critical analysis relates the course content to real-world applications from your work experiences or current events affecting HRM practices.