To meet the continued demand for educational reform and improved student achievement policy makers have been urging performance related pay in public education. The problem of this study was that research on teacher performance rewards in education is mixed, and throughout U.S. education history teacher rewards programs tend to be abandoned for a variety of failures.

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perceptions of performance related pay (PRP), prior to local/state implementation of such plans, including their agreement/disagreement about various aspects and effects of these plans. Additionally, this research sought to determine if there were relationships among perceptions of PRP, teacher experience, and job satisfaction. Finally, the study sought to explore teachers' perceptions about acceptable alternatives to PRP plans.

A random sample of teachers within four suburban Southern California K-12 schools was surveyed about their attitudes regarding PRP when performance is measured with two distinct models: a) teacher performance measured through student standardized test outcomes, and b) teacher performance measured through administrative evaluation.

A small sample of respondents completed online surveys indicating attitudes related to aspects of each model and additional items regarding their level of job satisfaction. Data from these survey responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients examining relationships among teacher experience, job satisfaction, and perceptions of PRP. Lastly, open-ended comments captured several themes related to evaluation and alternatives to merit pay.

In general, teachers did not agree that PRP would improve student learning or provide an incentive to work harder toward improving student achievement. However, there were some indications that the teachers surveyed in the current study may be open to PRP models or features not studied by this research. Teachers also expressed concerns about the fairness and complexity of teacher evaluations.

The findings of this study suggest that PRP plans should be better aligned with school goals, and that teacher evaluation systems need to be re-evaluated before considering implementation of a PRP plan.