IntroductionThe reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2011) has led to improvements in student outcomes and reducing inconsistencies in the dissemination of teacher qualifications a national priority. (Guarino, Brown, & Wyse, 2011). Traditional fixed salary scales, which only take into account a teacher's education and years of experience, have been popular since the 1920s (Koppich, 2005). This traditional system was developed to combat gender and racial discrimination that was permitted at the time by more unrestricted systems (Dee & Keys, 2004). Claims were made that the current system created pay equity between primary school teachers, most of whom were women, and secondary school teachers, most of whom were men (Koppich, 2005). Even though this pay structure failed to take into account that some teaching jobs are more difficult than others and require more skills, the standard, simple salary scale has prevailed in thousands of schools and districts across the country (Koppich, 2005). In the early 1980s, merit pay experienced considerable growth. Twenty-nine states had initiated some sort of merit pay program for teachers by 1986. Since then, however, almost all of these programs have been diluted or abandoned (Dee & Keys, 2004). Although the idea of ​​merit pay for teachers has been around for several decades, a surge of interest has recently emerged in a growing number of districts across the country. This can be attributed to a perceived correlation between student achievement and teacher merit pay, as well as the recent increase in the funding level of the Federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF). The TIF program, which is administered by the United States Department of Education (USDOE), pr...... middle of article ......l Of Education, 52(1), 5 -35.Keys, BJ and Dee, TS (2005). Dollars and meaning. EducationNext, 5(1), 60-67. Koppich, J.E. (2005). Not all teachers are the same: A multifaceted approach to teacher compensation. Education Next, 5(1), 13-15. Podgursky, M. and Springer, MG (2007). Credentials versus performance: A review of research on teacher performance-related pay. Peabody Journal Of Education, 82(4), 551-573.Scott, T. (2011). A nation at risk to win the future: The state of public education in US Journal For Critical Education Policy Studies, 9(1), 267-316. Smarick, A. (2011). Diplomatic mission: President Obama's path to pay for performance. Education Next, 11(1), 56-63. What Works Clearinghouse, (. (2011). Quick review of the WWC report “Teacher Pay for Performance: Experimental Evidence from the Teaching Incentives Project What Works Clearinghouse,