Lederman V. New York State Education: A Case Study

Fourth-grade teacher, Sheri Lederman, was surprised when she received results from her 2013-14 evaluation, which reported that she was not an effective teacher. This status was determined by student test scores for the year, which were actually above average like the year before. Even though many coworkers and administrators had applauded her outstanding teaching, the calculations did not reflect those favorable views. In opposition to this absurdity, Lederman sued New York State Education Commissioner and others in an attempt to clear her name. New York did not give her any other way to appeal, so she went to court (Strauss).
Even though Lederman was still a superb teacher like past years, one year of little improvement in scores sent her to a category where she did not belong. This is one example of a teacher who …show more content…
Merit-based pay dependent upon student test scores is not an effective method for evaluating and motivating teachers.
To provide some background information, merit-based pay in an educational context means that teachers are awarded bonuses if they have proven to be effective. Pay based on performance started in Britain in the 1880’s, and has been reintroduced on and off in U.S. schools since 1918 (Gratz 1). A more traditional and less controversial form of compensation is experience and education based salary, which determines salary on number of degrees and years of experience (Hunter 22). Experience and education salary, though seemingly logical, has been questioned because many teachers tend to plateau after a few years of teaching, despite more education or years in the profession (Barnett 1). In order to avoid teachers staying in a comfort zone of mediocrity, administrators want to find a way to keep teachers more accountable. Also, it has been brought to attention that