Sir Peter Lampl debates performance related pay with the NUT’s Christine Blower in The Times.

Like many people in business, I used to have a negative view of teachers. The commonly held assumption in the business community is that teachers have a soft job with long holidays, are heavily unionised and retire early. But after 15 years chairing the Sutton Trust and more recently the Education Endowment Foundation, my view has completely changed.

The more I have worked with schools to improve the opportunities for non-privileged children, the greater my admiration for teachers has become. Many are working wonders, often against the odds. As a country we should value them much more. It is why we need to find better ways of developing and rewarding our teachers — including performance pay.

We should focus more attention on teachers and less on school structures. Teachers are typically two thirds of a school’s budget and pupil attainment is largely determined by how good they are. Improving the quality of teachers being recruited is important but raising the overall quality of teachers is more important. Our research has shown that if we could improve the poorest 10 per cent so that they became average performers, it would boost the country’s education ranking from the low twenties to as high as fifth.

The Sutton Trust is developing proposals to improve the performance of teachers, considering what can be learnt from across the world. Through conversations we have had with Jeb Bush, the former Governor of Florida, we have learnt about their reforms — generally regarded as the most far-reaching in the United States. The system they have introduced is that teachers are assessed on the basis of student achievement, and peer and head teacher assessment. Those who perform consistently well receive salary increases. Those found to have shortcomings are required to undertake professional development and given every opportunity to improve. Most will turn the corner, but if they are found to be unsatisfactory again — after having access to support — they are asked to leave the profession. This seems to me to be a healthy balance between supporting teachers who can improve and safeguarding children’s right to being taught effectively.

Our survey of teachers in England shows broad support for a link between teachers’ pay and their performance, with three quarters of teachers believing that annual salary increases should be linked to performance. Any teacher evaluation system will be controversial and will need to be designed carefully, but most importantly there is support from those who matter most: teachers.

One thing I learnt from my business experience is to have an optimistic view of human nature: my experience is that if people are properly led, trained, motivated and incentivised, they will do a good job. So the answer for underperforming teachers is not to fire them but to develop them into competent teachers. Just think, if we could improve the performance of all our teachers, what the impact would be for the achievement of our children.

Read the original debate here.