Term Paper on "Information Systems Teacher Salaries the Potential Problems"

Term Paper 3 pages (1020 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Information Systems

Teacher Salaries

The potential problems with trying to use data in a national and/or a regional information system to make decisions at the state, province or district level

It has been observed that 'caution' is the word most frequently used when is talking about using information systems, or tables of data created by an organization, when these data tables are used as tools to make decisions and set school policy. The data must be placed in a larger context to determine whether apparent trends, like linking merit pay to improved performance in schools, are causally linked. For example, the Southern Regional Education Board houses a database of educational information, and supposedly objectively reports teacher salaries and other kinds of statistical data regarding schools throughout the nation. This is supposed to allow for comparisons on a dollar level between those salaries, as well as an opportunity to compare varying legislative policies regarding teacher pay between states. But the organization's non-contextualized analysis of average teacher salaries can be misleading.

First and foremost, when assessing any teacher salary median within a state, one must forget the old cliche that teachers only work for part of the year. Different teachers in different areas and districts work for varying durations of time. To take one obvious example, many school districts, particularly overburdened school districts, require teachers to teach summer school. Many teachers may put in extensive preparatory work during the summer, as well, to reeducate themselves in new district standards, or to simply fulfill administrative duties required by the district.

During the school year, the old cliche that teachers only work from 8:30-3:30 is also often grossly in error. In some schools, teachers may have to stay for long periods after school, to tutor students in basic skills, or to provide leadership in a variety of extracurricular activities. Teachers may work through their lunch hours grading papers, or serve as hall, lunch, or study hall monitors during break periods. Even after they come home, teachers often have to grade papers, field calls from parents, and prepare the next day's lesson. Some poor school districts may even require, not officially, but in practice, most of the teachers to make up for budgetary problems by stocking the classrooms with pencils, papers, and supplies out of their own pockets. The school may not adequately stock the supply cabinets and the students are unable to provide these supplies themselves.

All of these additional duties and financial burdens may be unpaid, and essentially devalue the apparent teacher income, in comparison to other teachers in other districts and states who do not have to perform these same duties. Also, district costs of living such as food and property taxes, commuting time, and other expenses will affect how far a teacher's salary dollar will stretch. For new teachers, even the cost of their education, and whether they have gone to private or state schools, will affect their financial needs and the way they view their salaries as generous or miserly. A school with a greater percentage of privately educated teachers… READ MORE

How to Reference "Information Systems Teacher Salaries the Potential Problems" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Teacher Qualifications and Student Performance: A Review Thesis

Teacher Qualifications and Student Performance: A Review of NCLB-Related studies

Among the educational reforms undertaken by local, state, and federal governments in the last half century, there has perhaps been… read more

Thesis 8 pages (2864 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Teacher Motivation Research Proposal

Teaching is one of the professions that many and indeed probably even most people enter with a large measure of idealism. They seek out education as a profession not for… read more

Research Proposal 64 pages (17626 words) Sources: 32 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Teacher Efficacy Term Paper

Teacher Efficacy

Connecting Teacher Efficacy and Student Achievement in Higher Education Business Classes

Academic achievement is an important step in obtaining one's life goals. Education is a two-way street. It… read more

Term Paper 30 pages (10102 words) Sources: 25 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Sustainable Further Education FE Teacher Education Training in the UK Term Paper

Education

Teaching the Teachers

Teaching primary and secondary school children is one of the most challenging careers that there is. One of the most significant challenges of the profession is… read more

Term Paper 28 pages (7160 words) Sources: 60 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Teacher Complacency and Technology Term Paper

Teacher Complacency and Technology

Interpretations of Results of Survey

Survey 1 is more of demographic information regarding the respondents. Facts such as they length of service rendered in teaching -… read more

Term Paper 20 pages (5299 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>