Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. incentive (n.) [in-sen-tiv] –a reward (money, gift, etc.) that motivates or encourages someone to work
harder
Example: Money incentives are given to employees who
stay in the company for more than 5 years.
2. doctorate (n.) [dok-ter-it] – the highest academic degree in any field of knowledge
Example: After college, he plans
to get a master’s degree, followed by a doctorate
degree.
3.
overlap (v.) [oh-ver-lap]– to share the same parts, interests,
time, etc., as something else
Example: Some topics in my
Asian history class overlap with my
Japanese history class.
4. amendment (n.) [uh-mend-muhnt] – a change to improve something
Example: The official suggested
some amendments to the voting rules
to lessen the chance of cheating during the elections.
5. union (n.) [yoon-yuhn] – an association or organization with a common purpose
Example: The teachers formed a union to make sure the school
pays them fairly.
Article
Read the text below.
A law in Florida called
the Student Success Act of 2011 says teachers must have advanced degrees
related to the subject they teach in order to get bonus pay.
According to
Republican representative Matt Gaetz, the law’s co-author, the law was
designed to give incentives to
teachers who focus on improving students’ performance.
Teachers with advanced
degrees related to the subjects they teach can receive bonus pay because they help students learn better than teachers with advanced degrees in unrelated
subjects.
Before the law was implemented,
teachers with a doctorate degree
in any course received bonus pay as high as $5,200.
The law only applies
to all new teachers, or those employed after July 1, 2011. The law has
angered more than one-third (1/3) of the 141 new teachers hired last year in Florida’s Brevard Public Schools.
One of these
teachers is Scott Johnson, an Algebra teacher, who did not receive a $2,625
incentive although he has a master’s degree in Space Science. He argues that the two subjects overlap,
since physics in Space Science is just Applied Math.
Gaetz admitted that because of overlapping
in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects there may still be some amendments
to the law.
However, Richard
Smith, president of Brevard’s teacher’s union,
said that other subjects can also overlap. For example, having an advanced
degree in History can still be useful when teaching about Literature.
Teacher’s bonus pay
has been an issue not only in Florida, but in Indiana and other US states as
well.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
Aside from bonus pay, what do you think are the
advantages of teachers who have advanced degrees?
·
Do you think teachers should focus on or keep studying
only one subject? Why or why not?
Discussion B
·
For you, how important are incentives in work
or in school?
·
How do you think people can still be encouraged
to work even without incentives?