Colorado has one of the very worst, most punitive educator evaluation laws in the nation, called SB 191. It was written by ex-TFA member State Senator Michael Johnston.
Please sign this petition to repeal 191.
In typical corporate reform fashion, the bill has a deceptive title,”like “Great Schools, Great Teachers,” but the mechanism of “greatness” is to tie 50% of teachers’ evaluations to student test scores. In 2010, when the bill was passed, value-added-assessment was new and promising. The Gates Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education promoted it. To be eligible for Race to the Top funding or for a waiver from the impossible mandates of No Child Left Behind, starred were required to evaluate teachers by their students’ scores.
Now we know that VAM doesn’t work. It is inaccurate , unreliable, and demoralizing. It says more about who is in the class than teacher quality.
It is time to get rid of VAM.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Same as Ohio. A computer does the calculation.
And it is probably an old Macintosh with frayed cords and burned out floppy drive.
I was elected to the Colorado State senate, after serving in the Colorado House, 6 years as chair of the Education Committee. I fought desperately against passage of 191 in 2010. Biggest disappointment of my political career. I intend to bring legislation to repeal it during my term in the Senate. Might be asking you for help, perhaps testifying against it? Senator-elect Michael Merrifield Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 15:00:56 +0000 To: vgmike@msn.com
Wonderful to hear from you, Michael Merrifield. SB 191 is a very bad law.
Grateful for your support, Senator. There are precious few educational policymakers with a combination of your viewpoints and willingness to battle short-sighted Reforms. Diane, if it’s at all possible for you to testify, it would probably be invaluable. In Ohio, where these policies have been debated and re-debated, the majority of witnesses are representatives from Students First.
Dr. Ravitch,
I echo Senator Merrifield’s question:
WOULD YOU be willing to travel to Colorado and testify in person against 191, and for its repeal (your health permitting, of course… and everything else permitting, too 😉 ) ?
Someone with your background and expertise needs to counter the Students First-type groups that are always shilling for the privatizers and union-busters at government hearings.
Jack
Jack,
Health and schedule permitting, I would go to Colorado to testify. Be aware that their are far better experts than me that are close by:
Kevin Welner at U of Colorado
Linda Darling-Hammond at Stanford
Edward Haertel, emeritus at Stanford
Robert Linn, U of Colorado
Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, U of AZ
David Berliner, U of AZ
Gene Glass, U of AZ
Not to slight any of those listed—indeed they’re all great—please don’t sell yourself short. As a former Asst. U.S. Secretary of Education whose written dozens of meticulously researched and highly acclaimed books on public ed—particularly your last two books—your testimony would carry great weight.
Diane, there is also a strength in numbers factor with these hearings. Again, in Ohio, there were multiple witnesses from Students First. I doubt you would have received an invitation from the Ohio policymakers. Your testimony could potentially be impactful not only in Colorado but further used in other states.
More on Senator Merrifield, a retired educator who considers public education to be one of the most important issues of the session:
http://michaelmerrifield.org/issues
Thank you for including this, Noelle. His discussion about education is remarkably thoughtful and balanced (I’d be interested to know his specifics on the use of high-stakes test; he notes that the current usage is way beyond what should be done).
Senator Merrifield will have his hands full with this Senate Education Committee:
http://coloradopols.com/diary/65456/2015-state-senate-education-committee-meet-the-freak-show
Douglas Co Colorado is probably the wave of the future with a differentiated pay scale by the perceived market value and educational value of teachers and other educators. The salary bands are reveal how the school board thinks about the value of teachers and particular subjects in the curriculum.
/http://www.nctq.org/docs/Douglas_County_Documents.pdf
“Eliminate management by numbers and numerical goals. Instead substitute with leadership.” W. Edwards Deming, MA University of Colorado 1925