Analysis of incentives to raise the quality of instruction

A (European Commission, 2013) report highlighted the growing consensus that raising teacher quality is key to improving the quality of education. This recognition precipitated efforts to establish compensation, evaluation, incentive and support systems to ensure that effective teachers are prepared, recruited, retained, and motivated.

This report, building on (OECD, 2009b), considers the evidence on a range of monetary and non-monetary incentives related to the quality of instruction. 

These include factors at all points in the processes that determine the quality of instruction

• entry into the teaching profession
• the quality of initial teacher education (ITE)
• the effectiveness of continuing professional development (CPD); the decision to remain in teaching; and the effectiveness of human resource practices. 

Although monetary incentives related to performance have received much emphasis lately, the potentially important role of other extrinsic incentives as well as intrinsic (internal) incentives must not be neglected. 

The latter are thought to be closely connected with educational success and rewarding interactions with students, and evidence discussed below suggests that these are particularly important for teachers in schools serving disadvantaged children.

Authors

Daniel Münich, Steven Rivkin

Cite as

European Commission: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE), Münich, D. and Rivkin, S., Analysis of incentives to raise the quality of instruction, Publications Office, 2015, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/32899