Merit Pay for Schoolteachers in Italy, 2015–2016: A New Regime of Education Accountability?

Abstract

In 2015, a new performance-related pay scheme was introduced for schoolteachers in Italy as part of education accountability policies aimed at improving their performance. Beginning in that year, all Italian state school principals were offered the opportunity to distribute wage bonuses to deserving teachers. During the first year of implementation, 82 percent of the schools appointed ad hoc internal committees and distributed the bonuses, on average to one teacher out of three. A large majority of schools distributed the funds internally, choosing their own criteria for defining what merit was and how much it should be prized. Results suggest that merit pay was mostly uncorrelated to students’ achievements, although more than one round of application would be required for more rigorous tests. However, the article argues that the 2015 reform aligned the Italian system of evaluation and assessment with other international accountability policies.