The centerpiece of Race to the Top is evaluating teachers by test scores. The students of good teachers, Arne Duncan and Barack Obama believe, get higher scores. If they have low scores, it is the fault of bad teachers. There was no evidence for their beliefs, other than the speculations of economists and statisticians. Real teachers never believed the theory, because they know that many favors affect test scores, not just teachers.
Thirty five states and DC followed Duncan’s lead, even though his hunch lacked any evidence . Lyndsey Layton has a comprehensive article in today’s Washington Post, describing the latest study to disprove Duncan’s theory.
Spurred on by Duncan, many states now use test scores to determine tenure and compensation. Duncan recently said he wants to judge the quality of teacher education programs by the test scores of students taught by their graduates.
Secretary Duncan’s love affair with standardized testing is inexplicable. There can be no question that he has caused immense damage to children, teachers, and public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m finding some not-so-good teachers are doing well with SLOs and the teachers with the most difficult students getting destroyed by VAM.
Arne Duncan, Secretary of the Department for the Regimentation, Dehumanization, and Privatization of U.S. Education, formerly the USDE.
There can be no question that he has caused immense damage to children, teachers, and public education.
None, this man has done enormous harm to little children.
Paying teachers based on a child’s multiple choice test score from a poorly written test that does nothing to promote good paying careers in their futures is absolutely insane.
40% of my APPR is based on a computerized assessment given in September and May to my first grade students. I can’t think of any job in the world that is based on the performance of a group of six year old children on a computerized assessment.
Here is the kicker .
USDE policies that purport to be evidence-based are large-scale experiments with little or no evidence in support of them. These experiments would not be permitted in any scholarly study goverened by criteria for research on “human subjects.” They would require the informed consent of the people who are subjected to experimental “interventions.” Notice that “intervention” is a term that reformists frequently use to describe teaching, or training, or calibrations, or audits, or professional development.
In a belated recognition that something may be amiss with their test-em-til-they drop polcieis, USDE decided to commission a study for the purpose of getting “rigorous” evidence on whether the evaluation systems called for in federal policy have their intended effects on teacher and leader performance and student achievement.
This five-year, $16 million study of Teacher and Leader Evaluation Systems will be completed in 2017, long after teachers and principals in almost every state have endured the requirements of evaluation systems known to be unreliable and ineffective as means to improve educational outcomes. Think of all the great uses for tis too little too late $16 million study. If anyone at USDE actually read the professional literature there would be no need for this investment.
See: American Institutes of Research. (2012, February 23). AIR selected to conduct study measuring the impact of teacher and leader evaluation systems on student learning and performance. Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.air.org/news/index.cfm?fa=viewContent&content_id=1755
This is getting to sound more and more like Enron. Especially after reading that article in the New Yorker about Newark.
Agreed with you Laura, recognition that something may be amiss with their test-em-til-they drop polcieis.
In North Carolina, a principal can put a non-certified teacher in charge of teaching a program such as Read 180. The teachers are not given a choice as to whether their students attend this program or not. They are gone 1- 1 1/2 hours during instructional time but because the person carrying out the plans for the program is not certified, the homeroom teacher is held accountable for that time. The homeroom teacher is also held accountable for time the students who go with a certified AIG teacher. So yes, VAM is a sham!
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
So why is it happening then? If article after article shows that VAM is a sham, and VAM is not an accurate measure, and VAM scores really don’t tell us anything, why is this in place everywhere? This is a serious question. These are educated people (you would think) that are in the decision making seats. They are seeing the same information that we are seeing. There are a lot of people in between Arne Duncan and my child, what is going on with the people who are in a position to do something about this? Do they just ignore facts? I guess so.
I know in my state we have a Broad Commisioner and our State DOE is essentially a branch office of the Federal DOE. But we also have a board made up of appointees, and all the local Superintendents who are going along with this. When questioned on issues like this my local School department and School committee show complete solidarity with the Federal DOE, even in the face of all the facts. All these articles keep saying the same thing… and then what?
We have a Broad Commissioner in our State as well. According to superintendents and principals I’ve talked to, there is a fear…either real or imagined…that she will pull the license of those who oppose her policies. In this type of environment…fear-based…the only thing that will change this system is a series of legal challenges and few want the hassle or expense of such litigation.
She? I wonder if we are in the same state. I am in RI.
Sadly Obama will leave office with a sullied reputation and much of it will be due to backing his good ‘Chicago’ friends, Duncan and Emanual.
Yet further evidence on top of the overwhelming body of expert opinion in support of our Scarsdale Parent-Teacher Council Petition to State Lawmakers: Ensure Test Credibility BEFORE Testing Students & Suspend Unreliable Teacher Ratings. Link: https://www.change.org/petitions/new-york-governor-ensure-test-credibility-before-testing-students-suspend-unreliable-educator-ratings.
Anybody notice who paid for the original study? The Gates Foundation. Sadly ironic.
and now, for your listening pleasure
Arne Dunkin’ and the Test-tots-ster-tones