[WalterBright]

> her teachers were preoccupied with students graduating and showing up to class

That's because the attendance rate is the driver of state funds to the schools.

The schools also get more funding if the students perform poorly.

[chii]

> The schools also get more funding if the students perform poorly.

that's such a weird policy.

The teachers can produce poorly performing students easily (without much effort i might add), but cannot do that very same for well performing students (even with effort). The incentive to produce poor performing students to get more funding means it's misaligned with the student's best interests.

Schools and students _should_ be incentivized to perform well, and funding ought to be a portion of that incentive.

[WalterBright]

> that's such a weird policy

Yup. I've taken adult lessons in things, and I don't continue to buy lessons if the coach is unable to teach me. But in the public schools, watch what happens if you suggest merit pay. Shields up, Mr Sulu!

Instead, teacher pay is based on years of service and how many credentials you have.

[programjames]

We could all learn from Hengshui.

(This is kind of a joke, because while the Hengshui school system is much more meritocratic, including in teacher salaries, it's also infamous for a stressful school environment. It's not really a joke though. While there are problems with the long hours, it's definitely better than whatever America has going on.)

[switknee]

Part of the issue with merit pay is if it's tied to simple metrics like grades, those metrics will get inflated without raising the things those metrics were meant to measure.

[chii]

but grades that are external to the school could be used as the metric - something the school cannot tamper with themselves. Grades like "international baccalaureate assessments" or some sort of university entrance exams.

[jackvalentine]

Now the school will do everything possible to convince their crap students to leave before those exams!