Ohio had the misfortune of winning Race to the Top funding, which means that teachers must be evaluated by the test scores of their students, in part.
In Ohio, it is in large part, because test scores will count for 50% of their evaluation. That is as bad as it gets but typical for rightwing states that want to harass teachers.
A reader sent me an interesting story from Toledo in which everyone shows that they are trying to comply but uncertain about how to do it and how it will work.
The refreshing part of the story is that the reporter is skeptical. The reporter raises lots of questions and is aware that this is an unproven idea.
I wrote earlier that value-added assessment is junk science. It has never worked anywhere. It is untried and unproven. The National Academy of Education and AERA say it will measure what kinds of students a teacher has in her or his classroom, not teacher quality.
VAM is bunk science and Race to the Top is imposing it nationally without any evidence that it will do anything other than encourage teaching to the test, fear, and cheating.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s not just right wing states and politicians that want to harass teachers.
Plenty of Dems are in on the fun.
Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado is a nominal Democrat who never saw a teacher he didn’t look upon with suspicion or a test company he didn’t want to give a contract to.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is leading the charge in teacher demonization efforts in the Midwest, and I would argue that his anti-union, anti-teacher track record is beginning to rival that of his brethren to the north, Scott Walker and Paul Ryan.
Emanuel is a Democrat in name and once led the DCCC when Dems took back the House of Representatives.
Congressman George Miller, who chairs the House Education Committee, is a Democrat but like Bennet in the Senate, he too never met a teacher he felt could be trusted to teach without “high stakes accountability measures” imposed from afar.
Cory Booker is a Democrat who is currently engaged in the wholesale privatization of the Newark school system. He’s got buddies in the hedge funds and Wall Street who bankroll him, he’s great friends with Chris Christie and loves Christie’s privatization efforts at the state level and his demonization of teachers and teachers unions in the media. That won’t stop Booker from running against Christie for governor next year, however, so those of us who live in NJ can expect privatization of the schools no matter who wins – Christie or Booker.
Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein and Michael Bloomberg were all nominal Democrats before they embarked upon their teacher demonization/school privatization agendas as well.
And of course the Democratic politician who has had the most impact in the teacher demonization/school privatization effort is Barack Obama – from Race to the Top to Central Falls, Rhode Island to Race to the Top II: The Municipal Version to Race to the Top III: The District Version, few politicians have been as successful at bringing teacher evaluations tied to test scores and changes to tenure laws or promoting a broad expansion of high stakes testing in every grade in every subject, K-12, as Barack Obama.
I wish it were simply right wingers and Republicans out to harass teachers who were the problem. Unfortunately, because both parties take money from the same corporate masters, politicians in both parties are out to give those masters what they ultimately want when it comes to public education – a privatized system with busted unions, cheap labor costs, and lots and lots of opportunities to cash in on the latest ed buzz craze (these days that being the Common Core Federal Standards, the tests that are going to be aligned to those standards and the test prep materials that are going to be needed to get students prepared for those tests.)
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Supposedly EVAAS, a VAM used in FL, NC, TN, and OH supposedly has been shown reliable within the work of William Sanders through the 90’s and beyond. This growth model does not consider covariates such demographics or poverty. Supposedly, with 3 years of data, the data itself acts as a control that blocks ‘noise’ from lurking variables. SAS insists that it’s reliable and that all students have an equal chance of growing. I would like the input of others regarding its validity. You can see more here:
http://blogs.sas.com/content/statelocalgov/2012/08/27/semantics-of-student-growth-test-score-discussions-create-anxiety-amongst-educators/
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IF you look at the model evaluation from NH you will also see that the DOE suggests using the test to evaluate teachers. Note, the NH Governor is not a right winger, but a Democrat.
This entire initiative is coming from the Obama Admin. through Race to the Top.
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For reasons unknown, our new superintendent has recently put a stop to the new teacher evaluation pilot program in our county. No explanation has been given.
It is interesting that about a month ago our teacher association agreed to post a link to Diane’s blog on its homepage. I also sent links to everyone I know, including school board members, to several of Diane’s posts.
Now, it would be a stretch to think that one teacher could influence school policy … but the truth has a way of finding its mark even if launched from only a single arrow.
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Don’t forget little Rhode Island. 75 million dollars and not a penny for smaller class sizes, books, computers, buildings… It’s all going to new and more evaluation gobbledygook, data collection, and testing. We’re being acronymed to death. UCOA, IMS, EPSS, DQI, FRED, IMS, SALT, eRIDE. The communiques from the state department of Ed have enough exclamation points to make Strunk and White jump out of their graves.
Plus- new and improved school classifications: Priority, warning, focus, typical, leading, commended. I’m not sure about the order because I don’t really care.
My district’s silver bullet this year is “professional learning communities.” The inservice expert (edu-sultant) the district paid good money for went on and on about the elementary school she turned around in Washington State. Of course, we got the “If I can do it, so can you.” I spent 5 minutes on the Net and found out her school, Garfield Elementary in Yakima, just made “Step 4” intervention which means they are a hair’s breadth away from becoming a charter. She never mentioned this.
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You have no idea! Ohio’s issues can be directly linked to RTTT and our wonderful (just kidding) governor.
Last Spring, I called Battelle for Kids Support. i butted heads with the gentleman who answered the phone, for the first 20 minutes. Then, we started to speak the same language. According to him, value added was NEVER intended to evaluate individual students or even individual teachers. It wasn’t until the politicians got wind of the concept (presumably for their own re-elections) that there was talk of using it for teacher evaluation. VAM was intended for use by districts or buildings to use to improve their instruction. These are his words, not mine. Hmmm. That would means teachers and principals had brains, and could make their own decisions. What happened to that concept?
For a few years prior to this one, there were constant commercials on TV and the radio, to sell books to help parents help their children pass ‘the tests’. The books were being sold by Battelle for Kids. Where did the profits from those books go? I googled Batelle for Kids. This is what I found:
“Battelle for Kids was established in 2001 through a partnership with the Ohio Business Roundtable and supported by an initial grant from Battelle Memorial Institute. The organization is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle for Kids has worked with schools in Ohio, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.
Battelle for Kids is a non-profit organization that works to enhance student learning by helping educators clarify and accelerate school improvement. Battelle for Kids partners with states’ departments of education, school districts and education-focused organizations with the goals of:
Improving teaching effectiveness and student progress through the use of assessment data
Informing instructional practice in real time
Recognizing and rewarding teaching excellence
Aligning goals and maximizing impact in schools
[edit]Awards and recognitions
Battelle for Kids has won several awards. Organizations such as the Central Ohio Public Relations Society of America, the National School Public Relations Association, and the Texas School Public Relations Association have collectively recognized Battelle for Kids over twenty times for its accomplishments.
I then googled “Ohio Business Roundtable”. Who were they, I wondered. I found this:
“Richard A. Stoff is the founding president and CEO of the Ohio Business Roundtable (BRT), a partnership of the chief executive officers of Ohio’s largest and most influential businesses.
Established in 1992, the Roundtable’s mission is to apply the knowledge, experience, and insight of its members to solve Ohio’s most complex, long-term public policy challenges. Highly selective in the issues it addresses, the Roundtable works only in areas in which their business experience can make a significant difference in effecting real systems change.”
There isn’t a single educator involved in this. Yikes! Anyone know what relationship this organization has to ALEC? Let me guess…
I am pleased so many superintendents across the country are standing up for what is best for students (Your Honor Roll). Where are Ohio’s Hero superintendents? The reality is, that in Ohio, many superintendents are what I refer to as Vanna Whites, just for looks. The Pat Sajaks of the districts, the ones running the show, are the treasurers, people with NO educational experience. Ask around. You’ll see it’s true.
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Thanks for the heads up on this Battelle for Kids group. Something else states have to look out for! Why can’t teachers just teach. Why do states and districts have to pay for consultants. We all know they just don’t ride in expecting no compensation.
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I will be speaking in Columbus, Ohio, on October 16 at an event organized by former Deputy Commissioner Bill Phillips. Earlier this year, I spoke to a large meeting of Ohio superintendents (about 300 of them). I think they understand how awful the “reforms” are and the damage they do, but they don’t know what to do. Frankly everyone is afraid. Teachers are afraid; principals are afraid; superintendents are afraid. Not a good picture of our democracy.
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Ohio’s teacher evaluation system is a train-wreck. ODE has deadlines that they themselves cannot meet. They keep telling us they are “working on that piece” leaving those of us on the OTES and Rttt transformation committees to throw up our hands. Information released at the end of July had changed by the first week of August. Meanwhile, amidst the attendance reporting “scandal”, district report cards have not been released, causing more delays of value-added information that is supposedly so important.
Five years ago, value-added was not a dirty word around here. Batelle for Kids was viewedas a helpful resource. Once again, well-intentioned organizations and methods have been corrupted.
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VAM is untried, unproven, inaccurate, unreliable, unstable.
No one’s career should be tied to VAM.
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Agreed. Few of us forsaw how VAM would be used when it became part of the local discussion. As if it is any consolation, districts are allowed to assign VAM or vendor assessments as little as 10% of the 50% for student growth measures. I so appreciate this blog. Through reading it, I feel as though I am better prepared to ask questions in meetings that empower will us to find the best solutions to these oppressive mandates.
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“…Race to the Top…will … encourage teaching to the test, fear, and cheating.”
There are classes for that now… How to Cheat on Exams http://goo.gl/p0gBs #satire
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