A merit pay plan can be successful if it contains unified and agreed upon objectives, integration and expansion of present key tasks, and endorsement and involvement of the entire educational staff. The responsibility of developing appropriate goals rests with the board of education, while the responsibility of documenting voluntary participation in the accomplishment of the established goals is placed with individual educational staff members. Objectives should focus on process (the way things are done) as well as on progress (outcome evaluation). Plan implementation requires the formation of an educational assurance review committee, ideally composed of three board and three staff members, with the school superintendent serving as chairperson. Staff select two or three appropriate administrative, departmental or grade-level, central office, school building, or specific class goals to accomplish each year. Each documented, achieved objective should result in a 1% base salary increase. Such a plan would be on-going, with objective formation/modification occurring every 2 years at maximum. An educational assurance plan could be implemented within an academic year, with final goal setting by September 1, progress review in January, completion of documentation by mid-April, May documentation review by the committee, and compensation checks awarded by mid-June. (NEC)