Teachers' salaries should be based on their students' academic performance.Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling r

The topic raises the controversial issue of whether a teacher’s should be based on the performance of their students. Indisputably, the main objective of a teacher is to improve his/her student’s performance. However, the performance of a student depends on a host of other factors, most notably, the ability of the student to diligently study the lessons imparted by the teacher. Thus a teacher can only act as a guide to the student and the onus of performing well academically lies entirely on the students and not on the teachers. Thus I generally disagree with the opinion that teachers should be judged according to the students’ academic performance.

The main objective of a teacher is to impart valuable knowledge onto the students, to instill a sense of morality among them, to lead them into the path of righteousness. A teacher may instruct the students on a myriad of subjects during school hours and to judge how much they have learnt, he/she may assign them a project as homework. It is the responsibility of the students to complete the task adroitly, which will reflect on their academic results. However the student may also wish to preoccupy himself with other things, neglecting the task set by his teacher, thereby attaining a poor marks. Thus, it is not the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that the students perform well academically, and thus they should not be judged on that basis.

Judging teachers on the academic performance of students is not only fallacious, but harmful for the students as well. If teachers were indeed judged on such a basis, they would tend to fundamentally change their method of teaching and orient it such that students can obtain better marks in the exams. A Biology teacher, who was previously inclined to take his students on frequent outdoor trips, to give the students a tangible experience with the flora and fauna of the wild, might now choose to concentrate on making the students familiar with probable questions of the upcoming examinations. Thus, the students are forced to peruse the books, while their ability to truly understand the nuances of the subject remain underdeveloped. So one can infer, that grading teachers in the manner mentioned above is detrimental for both the teacher as well as the students.

One can argue that there is no other way to judge the adroitness of a teacher. Such gradation of the teachers are especially necessary, when it comes to decide matters of promotion, reassignments, salary and other such related matters. However to judge a teacher’s performance based on the academic performance of their students can also give rise to discrepancies. Two teachers, who teach the same subject may be assigned to two different classes. If the students of one class are more academically inclined than the other, then obviously they will perform better in the examinations. Thus the teacher of that particular class would benefit the most, even if he/she did not teach as well as the teacher of the second class. Therefore, such a method of grading teachers is extraneous to the actual performance of the teacher.

In conclusion it can be said that the suggested method of grading the teachers is unjustified and specious. A teacher can never be judged on basis of how well the students are performing in the examinations, since the objective of a teacher is to make the students more knowledgeable in certain subjects. Improvement of academic performance is simply a by- product that can be attained by diligent practice and hard work, the responsibility of which lies entirely with the students themselves.