Master teacher Sheri Lederman is suing the State of New York after having received a low rating on the state’s “growth” measure. Her husband Bruce is her lawyer. She has been teaching for 18 years and has earned her doctorate. While only 31% of the students in the state “passed” the Common Core tests as proficient, 66% of the students in Dr. Lederman’s class were proficient. But the state gave her a low rating because, by the state’s convoluted formula, the students did not “grow” enough in their test scores.
The New York State Education Department tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but their effort was rejected and the case is moving forward.
One of the strengths of the Lederman’s case is the excellent affidavits submitted by experts, as well as by parents and students. You can read the affidavits here. You will be informed by the expert statements of Linda Darling-Hammond, Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Carol Burris, Aaron Pallas, and Brad Lindell.
Darling-Hammond says that Lederman’s rating is “utterly irrational.”
Amrein-Beardsley says that no VAM rating–given the current state of knowledge or lack thereof– is sufficient valid or fair to rate individual teachers.
You will find the testimony of parents and former students enlightening.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Praying for this all-star cast. Teachers around the nation are watching. Go get ’em!!!
VAM is demonstrably an invalid evaluation method (see, for example the AERA monograph) not only in the Ledernan case but in ALL teacher evaluations. Teachers across the country must attack the legal basis for using the VAM model. This case is the teacher analog to the parent opt out movement. Each in its own way holds the possibility of disassemble key pieces of the deform agenda.
Great start on the affidavits.
I hope they are able to get someone who contributed to the ASA position paper on VAM to give testimony. But if not, they can just introduce the paper as evidence.
And also Dr. Moshe Adler who poked Raj Chetty’s “research” so full of holes that it looked like a sieve.
The one thing they need to be watch out for is the argument that “NY is not using VAM, therefore none of the criticisms hold”, which is actually false, but I’d be willing to bet that argument will be used nonetheless.
You gotta love the name of the “growth model” that NY is using to evaluate Lederman and others:
The “AIR” growth model (American Institutes for Research)
I think it’s about time someone let the AIR out of their balloon.
In Los Angeles, a beloved teacher named Rigoberto Ruelas was distraught after the L.A. TIMES published the bogus VAM data on him (and thousands of other teachers, by the way). When parents started asking for their students to be switched to the other teacher in his grade with higher VAM scores, Ruelas took his own life.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/28/local/la-me-south-gate-teacher-20100928
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“As a teacher in an impoverished, gang-ridden area of South Los Angeles, Rigoberto Ruelas always reached out to the toughest kids. He would tutor them on weekends and after school, visit their homes, encourage them to aim high and go to college.
“The fifth-grade teacher at Miramonte Elementary School was so passionate about his mission that, school authorities say, he had near perfect attendance in 14 years on the job.
“So when Ruelas, 39, failed to show up for work last week, his colleagues instantly began to worry. And their worst fears were confirmed Sunday morning. In the Big Tujunga Canyon area of the Angeles National Forest, a search-and-rescue team with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department discovered Ruelas’ body in a ravine about 100 feet below a nearby bridge.
“The Los Angeles County Coroner determined he had committed suicide.
” … ”
“Miramonte Principal Martin Sandoval described Ruelas, a South Gate native, as a caring teacher who loved the outdoors. For the teachers and staff, he organized volleyball games at the beach, hiking trips and bonfires, said Carmen Jimenez, 24, a Miramonte nurse assistant.
“He was a very happy individual,” Sandoval said. “He grew up in this community and he felt a desire and need to help this community.”
“Andromeda Palma, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, stopped by after school to leave a balloon at the memorial. She said she used to struggle at math, but he taught her to succeed and not to give up.
” ‘He told me it is not about where you are from but if you don’t go to school you are nothing in this world,’ she said with tears in her eyes. ‘Now I am doing real good because of him.’
“Sandoval said like all teachers, Ruelas apparently felt pressure to perform well. ‘Things that were happening in the district, budget cuts, testing, seem to put us all under the microscope,’ Sandoval said.
“Many staff members saw Ruelas at a school celebration on Friday, Sept. 17. While some said he seemed normal, others said he was distracted and upset.
” ‘He wasn’t smiling like he always smiled,’ said Maria Jimenez, a school aide. ‘Other parents noticed it too and were asking what was wrong.’
“Crisis counselors were on campus to help students or teachers who sought help. District Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, along with union and school leaders, met with teachers and staff early Monday, and about 100 parents turned out later for an emotional meeting with school officials.
” ‘Mr. Ruelas was a passionate and caring teacher, who put his students first,’ Cortines said in a statement. ‘He made a difference in the lives of so many in his classroom, and by staying after the bell rang to tutor students.’
“A community memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Presentation Catholic Church in Los Angeles.”
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The HUFFPOST also covered this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/27/rigoberto-ruelas-lausd-te_n_740544.html
This is an American tragedy. Ruelas is a victim of the vicious teacher wars. If we can get some court cases against VAM, Ruelas’ family should talk to a lawyer and seek damages in civil court.
Jack: Rigoberto Ruelas deserved better.
He should not be forgotten.
Thank you for reminding everyone of what lengths the enforcers and enablers (yes, that includes the LATIMES) of the self-styled “education reform” movement will go to in order to impose their vicious measure-and-punish regimen on OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN.
And I urge everyone to keep in mind what a genuine American hero said:
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.”
Frederick Douglass was right then. He’s right now.
Opt out. Starve the rheephorm beast of its lifeblood. Opt in to genuine teaching and learning.
Whatever it takes. A Lakeside School education for everyone. No excuses. No exceptions. Whatever it takes.
😎
Darling-Hammond’s analysis is compelling. She not only documents the flawed way teachers are evaluated using VAM, she points out several flaws in the assumptions in the way the scores are derived. She confirms what we all know that there are too many variables in a student’s life to attribute performance on a standardized test solely to a teacher. Other impressive gems from her analysis, VAM is “correlative not causative.” This is why the rich score high and the poor score low. She also criticizes the statistical construct of the binary “yes” or “no” to status of classified students, ELLs and poverty. We all know that these students are not the same, and there is a vast difference among members of these groups. Considering them all equal leads to more false data. She also points out the limitations of the “growth model” formula for students at both ends of the bell shaped curve. Perhaps most damning of all is New York’s refusal to reveal how a teacher’s score is derived. Darling-Hammond makes the case that the teacher should have the right to have access to a formula that may damage his/her career.
While the evidence Darling-Hammond presents is factual and astute, my concern is that a judge may not seriously accept the preponderance of evidence. Judges uphold the law, not statistics. A judge may conclude as other judges have, “It may not be right, but it’s the law.” If this is the outcome, then NYSUT must take up the case. They must force New York to reveal its secret formula that can destroy teachers’ careers. To me the secrecy of the mathematical machinations violates due process. If someone is going to destroy a career over a formula, the state should have to reveal the details.
The secrecy also violates the established scientific process.
But as you point out, court decisions are often not based on science.
Or if they are, they are based on what is really bogus science, since one can always find someone like Raj Chetty to testify and convince a scientifically illiterate judge.
‘secret formula’, just like Coca Cola. Sounds like an excuse cluttered thinking they want to remain hidden.
Too often, when people hide data and methods in a scientific context, it is because they have committed fraud.
There is no legitimate scientific reason to hide data and methods.
Have statisticians and others at the NY state office of education committed fraud?
If not, they should release the requested information.
Really. They should release it. Here i nothing I want to see released to the public!
Congress Can — and Should — Declassify the TPP: “Although the other negotiating countries and “cleared” corporate advisers to the US Trade Representative have access to the draft TPP agreement, the American people haven’t been allowed to see it before Congress votes on fast track. Members of Congress can read the draft agreement under heavy restrictions, but they can’t publicly discuss or consult on what they have read.”
http://billmoyers.com/2015/05/29/congress-can-declassify-tpp/?utm_source=General+Interest&utm_campaign=512c7d35f1-Midweek12171412_17_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4ebbe6839f-512c7d35f1-168347829
Orwell is laughing in his grave.
The TPP is more secret agreements designed to keep the real agenda out of sight. Even without the TPP Disney has been firing American tech, workers and importing foreigners to take the positions. It seems like the only rights workers have today is the right to get fired. http://www.computerworld.com/article/2915904/it-outsourcing/fury-rises-at-disney-over-use-of-foreign-workers.html
Companies have been playing the H1b game for a long time now.
Many companies are much smarter/less obvious than Disney in the way they go about it.
For example, they advertize a position, disregard inquiries from qualified Americans and then claim they could not find any qualified Americans. They then go on to hire foreigners under H1b
And these companies are getting help with their “shortage of IT workers’ charade from people in very high places.
If the unions had addresses this issue 20 years ago this would not be happening today.
It isn’t as if the truth was not out there. The war on teachers was chronicled:
http://endteacherabuse.org/
This article explains exactly how it was done in LA
and this man
http://protectportelos.org/the-david-pakter-saga-an-all-too-familiar-of-a-story/ has been documenting the abuse for years; now a sub, he will never return to the classroom and spent time in jail, for fighting back.
http://protectportelos.org/does-workplace-bullying-continues-my-33-hrs-behind-bars/
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
http://www.perdaily.com/2015/01/were-you-terminated-or-forced-to-retire-from-lausd-based-on-fabricated-charges.html
Betsy Combier documented the illegal removal of teachers for years http://parentadvocates.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=7501
… and when I was the NYS Educator of Excellence, they came after me, finding me guilty corporal punishment without benefit of putting out charges, investigating o r a hearing, then alleging incompetence, even though I was the nYC cohort for the Pew National Standards. I spent twenty five Thousand dollars to end that nonsense because the UNON was absent. I WROTE THIS IN 2004 AT MYOLD BLOG, WHICH DOES NOT REPRODUCE CORRECTLY,
http://www.speakingasateacher.com/SPEAKING_AS_A_TEACHER/No_Constitutional_Rights-_A_hidden_scandal_of_National_Proportion.html
SO I PUT IT UP HERE IN 2011
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
I wrote about this a decade ago.
http://www.speakingasateacher.com/SPEAKING_AS_A_TEACHER/The_Insane_War_on_Teachers_and_Democracy.html
If all the people who write about education had followed the stories of civil rights abuse which was the first assaults on teachers, accusing them not of incompetence but crimes, to get them out , there would have been no PARCC or VAM.
I still do not read a word about the outright abuse of civil rights of tens of thousands of Americans who just happen to choose teaching as a career…. not here, not anywhere… Yeah. lots of chatter about those tests and how unfair they are, but it takes a teacher to go to court?
Gimme a break…. Those at the top of the education pecking order, who had the attention of the press knew about this, and let the unions do their thing so as not to ruffle feathers. No one told the unions to STEP UP AND PROTECT US. Now we are all gone, the veteran teachers, and they are going after any teacher with experience.
WE NEED TO PUT NEW PEOPLE IN THE UNIONS WHO REPRESENT US!
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/07/former-ctc-attorney-kathleen-carroll-lays-out-unholy-alliance-between-union-and-public-education-pri.html
I am posting this on Facebook. Here in Louisiana, ELA and math teachers have been subject to VAM counting as 50% of their teacher evaluation scores since 2012. It has been a nightmare, especially for teachers working with high ability students, as it is statistically impossible to show growth in already exemplary scores. Google ” the Seabaugh solution” to see how this VAM farce played out here.
Thanks to Sheri Lederman for her bravery!
Lenny Isenberg is suing in LA… he is suing the UNION… Of course you will never get to read about that.
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/03/has-utla-rank-and-file-been-told-that-im-suing-utla-why-not.html
or this
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
Sorry, I did not put int he link above…
… here is the must read article in Citywatch that shows how it was done, how they ‘killed’ the teaches before VAM, how criminal charges were routinely brought to harass teachers out.
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers
NYC was the largest system to go down
The 2nd largest LAUSD, was next.
http://www.perdaily.com/2014/06/lausds-treacherous-road-from-reed-to-vergara–its-never-been-about-students-just-money.html
…and IF you want to see ABUSE that makes VAM look mild in comparison read Lorna Stremcha’s newly published book. I have followed her story for years
http://www.amazon.com/Bravery-Bullies-Blowhards-Lessons-Classroom/dp/0991309936/ref=cm_sw_em_r_dptop_dn1Avb040EW4Q_tt
Lorna FYI, ws set up by her principal to be assaulted in her classroom, and had to go through the courts to get justice… IF YOU NEVER READ ANYTHING ELSE, read her book!
http://bravery-bullies-blowhards.com
I have watched her testify in Congress, and work with Senator Testor to end workplace bullying, … and write on her blog, but her story, is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. Hers is the ”Ferguson’ an inciting incident that demonstrates the low place in the society where the plight of teachers can be found. and testify for the Lawless project,
She has a room of boxes with files that show how much TIME ENERGY AND MONEY was spent to get some vindication. I watched Walter Porr and Pi Lian TU, fight and lose in NYC.
No teacher with a contract should have to go to the courts to get justice! We watch ethnic minorities fight for justice. YET, HERE ARE EDUCATED, DEDICATED CARER-GIVERS, being targeted and thrown to the dogs with nary a word in the media! The human interest story as lives are destroyed is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND, as all this talk about VAM and PARCC fills the blogs.
TEACHERS HAVE BEEN UTTERLY DESTROYED, and no one knows their stories, except for those who read the small activist blogs. David Pakter disappeared after years and half a million ddollars spent to defend himself… HE WAS A BRILLIANT, DEDICATED CELEBRATED EDUCATOR.
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/search?q=david+pakter
It makes me ill!
It would be the ultimate irony if “reformers” were taken down by a teacher with high-scoring students.
That would be something to relish — and mustard and ketchup too.
“Her husband Bruce is her lawyer.”
Now if more teachers just had lawyers for spouses.
Like the old saying goes, there are three kinds of lies, lies, damned lies, and value added measurement.
Looks like VAMpire is having serious malfunction due to overdose of ‘unprocessed’ blood transfusion in C.C.R.A.P tube.
Given that the teachers’ unions are not willing to help (what good are they if they will not defend you when your job is threatened?), perhaps some organization (Network for Public Education?) could act as a collection point for donations to a legal fund for teachers like Sheri Lederman to cover court costs — and compensate Mr. Lederman for his work. Their battle is not just for themselves but for all teachers in NY (and could possibly effect teachers in other states as well)
My guess is that lots of people would be willing to donate
you bet… I would!
Judging from this comment by Cuomo, it seems he may be feeling some heat: —At a separate event on Wednesday, when asked about a specific lawsuit from a teacher over a relatively new performance evaluation system, Cuomo said he’s not surprised and expects there her case won’t be the last. “Basically the way the teacher profession worked was, you got a job, you got tenure and then you basically had total job protection for the rest of your life,” he said. “This system says we’re going to have an evaluation system and if you don’t do well in the evaluation system, you could lose your job, so it really is jarring.” Capital’s Jessica Bakeman [PRO]: http://capi.tl/1Q7q3BN
‘It really is jarring” [when you lose your job due to a crackpot and/or fraudulent evaluation system]
Naw, really?
Andrew may have passed the bar on the first try, but the things he says indicate that he is as dumb as a bag of hammers.
It is unfortunate that the governor does not understand that “tenure has nothing to do with allowing a person to have a job for life.” He is displaying his ignorance and abundant arrogance.
We can rant and rave until the cows come home. Cuomo doesn’t care a whit about legal or educational principles, research, instruction or kids, families of public schools.. He makes political/economic decisions that benefits he and his backers in the private and and charter schools and their wall street and investment house bankers.
Just “(F)ollow the money”
He may not care about legal principles, but the judge(s) certainly will. Andrew Cuomo is bound to lose on APPR/VAM.
Check out Anthony Cody’s latest post on the fight to save public schools.
It covers a lot of important ground:
http://www.livingindialogue.com/the-war-of-attrition-over-public-schools/
To help carry on the fight, join NPE:
http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/
Year-to-year growth models are the least valid VAM model imaginable. High achieving students, like Lederman’s, are the most unlikely group to show year-to-year growth.
They tend to score consistently high each and every school year. My own children demonstrated virtually zero academic growth throughout their K to 12 years, despite being taught by a few very excellent teachers, many average to above average teachers, and several weak, borderline incompetent, teachers.
That’s what the Pallas’ affidavit appears to be saying. I didn’t the follow some of his finer points, but what I got out of it is that the reliability went down at both ends of the bell shaped curve.
To make matters worse, many of us work with an inverted bell curve.
Agreed. I was an ESL teacher so I feel your pain. I was lucky to get out before I got vamboozled.
The (in)validity of VAM formulas is one thing. The absurd practice of evaluating teachers based on scores of students we do not teach – or using scores from subject areas that we do not teach will be the legal death knell for this madness.
How about grading students according to the test scores of their classmates? Teachers can pick names out of a bag to decide who gets who’s grade!
“While only 31% of the students in the state “passed” the Common Core tests as proficient, 66% of the students in Dr. Lederman’s class were proficient.”
Similarly to something else I reacted to this past week, I wish to remind everyone that we should not give credence to ANY meaningless statistics. The 66% is also meaningless as a rating. I understand the point of writing that, but I also wish it came with a disclaimer. My students – the low ones, the ones with behavior problems, learning disabilities, etc. – would not come close to the 31%, let alone 66%. Is this because I’m a lousy teacher? I don’t think so.
I agree completely.
It’s easy to fall into the use of meaningless statistics to counter other meaningless statistics (and I have done it myself): touting flat test scores to show that reform is not working is the perfect example.
Once you accept any part of what is essentially garbage you get into all sorts of self-contradictions: talking about “reliability” of an evaluation system that is completely invalid, for example. What’s the point? What does that even mean?
I know it has become a cliche, but the statement about the three kinds of lies (Lies, damned lies and statistics) is even more apt now than when it was first made.
It’s good to see that people are pushing back against this stuff, but I’d like to see more people simply say (like Diane does frequently) that this stuff is just “junk science” or just “junk” and is not even worthy of being debated with regard to percentages and this and that and the other.
Finally, I think the people who develop stuff like VAM and push its use for teacher firing and other high stakes decisions are behaving in a highly unethical way because they (more than anyone else) almost certainly KNOW that their models are statistical mumbo-jumbo.
And their colleagues (eg, in statistics departments at Harvard and other places) who do not speak up about what they are doing are complicit.
I know that my ELLs who were the bottom of the bell have made outstanding progress despite any percentile information I got from a standardized test.