Bruce Baker of Rutgers University is frustrated. He and colleagues have published study after study about the uses and misuses of standardized test scores to measure teachers and schools.The evidence is clear, he writes. Yet states remain devoted to failed, erroneous methods that pack any evidence!
“It blows my mind, however, that states and local school districts continue to use the most absurdly inappropriate measures to determine which schools stay open, or close, and as a result which school employees are targeted for dismissal/replacement or at the very least disruption and displacement. Policymakers continue to use measures, indicators, matrices, and other total bu!!$#!+ distortions of measures they don’t comprehend, to disproportionately disrupt the schools and lives of low income and minority children, and the disproportionately minority teachers who serve those children. THIS HAS TO STOP!”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Because they are really s—–? Greedy? Sick? Think only of punishment to push a personal agenda for profits? Oh, that’s it … PROFITS. Our young is for sale in this cash and carry country.
Critical of current ways to evaluate teachers. Understandable. But no suggestions on how to do it right…
you don’t need to know how to do it right to insist on not doing it wrong.
Absolutely right. I don’t need to wait for another new and improved next train, when I’m on a burning one that’s going over the cliff.
And beyond that, doing nothing is better than doing damage.
Now that is nonsense. I don’t know about your past work history, but in ANY job I have had, there were ways to measure whether or not I was doing my job right. These were objective standards, applied to all in the same job.
Once a year there would be an evaluation conversation with a supervisor, where standards and accomplishments were discussed.
It is ridiculous to say that “you don’t need to know how to do it right to insist on not doing it wrong…”
Regular professionals get evaluated by objective standards. IF you want to consider teachers as professionals, there should be an objective way to measure whether these are met or not. It is part of a professional’s life.
Obviously, in the district where I work, I am not be evaluated the same way as a classroom teacher. I have my own set of professional standards to meet. Custodial staff, secretaries, business staff…
We had the evaluation discussion before, and you had no suggestions at that time either. I had hoped that now you would have figured out some objective way to evaluate teachers… But then, there is so much else I hope for…
Rudy,
As testing expert Fred Smith says in another comment, doing nothing is better than doing damage. Better to figure out how to repair the house than to burn it down.
How sad an expert Fred is. It’s so easy to keep telling people what is wrong. It does not take much of an expert to lay those claims.
A good expert will tell you how to SOLVE the problem, So if Fred thinks “repair” is better, what suggestions does he have for that? Surely, he DOES have suggestions, right?
Rudy, why would you keep destroying the profession with demonstrably wrong evaluations because you don’t yet have the perfect one?
Did I ever advocate to keep non-working evaluations? (Here is an example, Ken, of someone making me say something neither intended nor applied)
I have stated my agreement that standardized test results is not a good way in and of itself. It is helpful when the same teacher of a class delivers the same disappointing results year after year, when the next grade teacher has to re-teach material which should already be known.
I have already stated that teachers cannot be held accountable for kids not doing their work at home when parents do not support the teachers in that effort.
And I can think of other exceptions. But as stated before as well, SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW there HAS to be a way to hold even teachers accountable.
Peer evaluation does not work – because next year, you are evaluating me. And if I give you a bad review now, you will give me a bad one next year. Evaluation by principals is iffy, as well. because after all, next year that teacher may become a District level administrator, in a position that could hurt me.
What about evaluation by impartial, but knowledgeable third parties?
Rudy, in your 196 words, you failed to suggest even one “objective way to evaluate teachers”. The pot calling the kettle black…
I have made suggestions in the past. But at least I have come up with suggestions! That is one of the things that bother me when people do nothing but B & M. Lots of complaints, but no suggestions on how to improve things.
I KNOW that teachers cannot be held accountable for the lack of work done by parents. But when I KNOW of teachers who, rather than teach, feed their students movie after movie (without adding context as to exactly why that particular movie made sense in a part of the curriculum.
I knew that when my oldest son got an “A” in English the first semester after we moved here there was a problem. Sure, he grew up speaking both English and Dutch. But he had never taken classes in English (Other than, obviously, English), never written papers in English. Of course, I know that my kids are brilliant, that comes automatically with being Dutch In their case, partially).
But I knew he never should have gotten more than a “C” that first semester. So I asked his teacher. The response? He got an “A” because of his participation. Not his knowledge set, not his papers (which were graded nor corrected) – but he talked, a lot.
Peter Greene uses an analogy that goes something like this.
I am doubled over with pain in my abdomen and someone comes up to help and they suggest amputating my arms. I complain and tell them that isn’t the problem. They agree but insist “But we have to do something!”
Rudy, the evaluations are the equivalent of amputation in that they do demonstrable harm. Research shows this, experience shows it, but you seem to suggest we should keep on doing it because “we have to do something!”
No. As Diane pointed out you can (and should) insist on not doing it wrong even when you don’t know how to do it right.
What you do anything but nothing! If not you’ll be dead before you know it.
But you go look for the right thing. That’s what I do for a living – look for solutions to problems. Education would not function if we ignore problems and not do anything!
I did not suggest doing nothing, just the medical admonishment “do no harm”.
I would return to what worked for decades – peer observations and multiple observations (at least 6-10 per year) by well trained administrators. That is a far better method of teacher evaluation than the problematic and discredited methods currently in vogue.
Peer review is fraught with dangers. As is administrator review.
Peer review: He/she will evaluate me next year/month/week…
Administrator review: She/he may jump me in rank, and will evaluate me…
They are, but they are far more reliable than most alternatives as research has shown.
Rudy, proper methods to evaluate teachers have been around for decades if not longer. When implemented by professional, highly trained administrators, those evaluation methods work, and due process allows districts to get rid of teachers that do not measure up.
For instance, “How Do High-Performing Nations Evaluate Teachers?”
What’s interesting is that HIGH-RANKING Finland that the U.S. is often compared to by the corporate frauds and the fools that support them that allege they are reformers (the caps indicate I’m shouting while typing this comment, because I’m boiling mad that there are so many lame brains that will use Finland to bash the U.S. public schools but never look closely at what Finland’s does),
Finland’s national ministry of education has no role in teacher evaluation.
“Instead, broad policies are defined in the contract with the teachers’ union. Teachers are then typically appraised against the national core curriculum and the school development plan. Finland, of course, is known for having no standardized testing, obviously then making it impossible for it to be used as a tool for teacher evaluation. (Finland’s education system does just fine without it).”
http://neatoday.org/2013/03/25/how-do-high-performing-nations-evaluate-teachers/
Then there is another top-performing nation that those manipulating frauds and con-men, and the fools that swallow their swill, in the U.S. also compare the U.S. to but ignore when it comes to what that country does to evaluate its teachers.
“Singapore, another top-performing nation that also generally disavows test scores,emphasizes teacher collaboration in their evaluation systems. Singapore also has a rigorous professional development program which focuses on how to evaluate, mentor, and coach newer educators. Teachers are entitled up to 100 hours of professional development every year and often work in teams–priorities that reflect the country’s philosophy that the key to a first rate teacher force is to provide educators with the right incentives.”
thanks for your reply. Now we have something to look at and work from. You quoted, (And I am quoting you quoting) ““Instead, broad policies are defined in the contract with the teachers’ union. Teachers are then typically appraised against the national core curriculum and the school development plan.”
Typically appraised against the national core curriculum – Does that mean that specific standards are set which need to be met by the students, and if the students do not meet those standards, that will impact the teacher’s evaluation??
Are you aware of the “broad policies,” such as what they are?
I was involved in writing the School Development Plan for the grade school where my kids attended in the Netherlands (Longer ago than I care to dwell upon). It, too, set specific standards – but did not include “what if’s.”
Yes, Finland has a set of national standards but does not test to see if the students learned them.
How to teach those standards and what standards to teach are left entirely in the hands of teachers, because in Finland teachers are trusted and treated like the professionals they are recognized to be.
It is not mandatory to teach all of the standards on Finland’s list. That list of standards is a suggestion and not a mandate. There is no testing, ranking and punishment of teachers and closing schools in Finland based on the results of test scores.
Quotation mark open – There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students’ senior year in high school – quotation mark close
Source:
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/#iBRPgc20mEkiofhw.99
And if i remember correct, those are comprehensive exams.
The Netherlands had(s) a system where students are expected to maintain a specific average. One of my kids could be woken up in the middle of the night, and he could tell you to the third decimal… Just enough to keep on going.
These points were/are calculated by test results (Teacher developed, graded) in the different areas.I am not quite sure about current habits. None of my relatives over there are in that level right now. Either too old or too young…
Teacher made tests are used to reveal what students are learning and then the teacher adjusts accordingly. Teacher made tests are not used to rank teachers, fire them; rank schools and close them.
Never said they were.
But I did. I don’t have to respond automatically to everything you write. Often I have ideas of my own that surface while reading your comments and taking advantage of my 1st amendment rights, I express them. In other words, you don’t control the conversation.
that is a common discussion with therapists in training; they are taught to try to avoid gratuitous statements and also will offer “when I have something useful to say , I will say it”… I like that kind of discussion as well ; it makes for good conversation and allows ad hoc comments as well (from others who may be “in the room” such as jean who is “lurking”)
of my 1st amendment rights, I express them. In other words, you don’t control the conversation.
jeanhaverhill@aol.com
Regarding Singapore: It has a pragmatic authoritarian type of government and it still allows for corporal punishment (caning) of male students. Private tutoring, cram schools or tuition centers are very widespread in Singapore. That is all above and beyond the regular school system which does allow caning of male students who exhibit extreme misbehavior.
Finland has none of that crap going on, it’s a much better model for us. Not to mention that Finland has free university education, universal health care, paid family leave and paid vacation for all workers. And a high unionization rate in the 70% range.
Quotation open mark – The Personal Income Tax Rate in Finland stands at 51.60 percent. Personal Income Tax Rate in Finland averaged 53.03 percent from 1995 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 62.20 percent in 1995 and a record low of 49 percent in 2010. Personal Income Tax Rate in Finland is reported by the Finnish Tax Administration. Quotation mark close
Quotation mark open –
VAT rates until
31 December 2012 as of 1 January 2013
Standard rate
23 %
24 %
Reduced rate:
Foodstuff and animal feed
Restaurant and catering services
13 %
14 %
Reduced rates:
Books
Pharmaceutical products (medicines)
Use of sporting facilities
Passenger transportation
Accommodation and the right to use harbour
The remuneration received by Yleisradio Oy from the TV and radio fund and by Ålands Radio and TV based on the TV licence fees
Admission to cultural services (shows, cinema, theatre) and amusement parks
Supply and import of works of art in certain situations
Subscriptions of newspapers and periodicals
Remuneration relating to a copyright where received by an organization representing the copyright owners.
Quotation mark close
Source:
https://www.vero.fi/en-US/Precise_information/Value_added_tax/Change_in_VAT_rates_as_of_1_January_2013(27098)
And that is how all that “free” is paid for. All of that is on top of your actual taxation on income. So, even at the lowest VAT rate, your spendable income is 36%
All educators in Finland belong to the same union
I’m aware of Authoritarian Singapore’s education system. I’ve researched Singapore and written about it in detail on one of my blogs. My comment was about how the teachers were treated, not the students.
I also seriously think it isn’t our job to tell the rest of the world how they should do things. We can learn from other countries if we want to, but also we must allow other countries to learn from us if they want to, but not criticize or force them to change their ways unless we are defending our country or our allies from their aggression toward us and our friends.
Historically, when conquerors or powerful nations attempt to change other cultures, one of two things happen: genocide, where the more powerful invader eradicates the people who are resisting change, or a successful rebellion when the people being forced to change their ways by an invader rise up and defeat the invader getting rid of them; sending them packing with tail between legs.
For instance, the U.S. war in Vietnam. The U.S. could have learned from history because about two thousand years ago Vietnam was conquered by China and it took the Vietnamese 1,000 years of repeated rebellions to get rid of China and get rid of them.
In other words, when in Singapore (or any other country), obey their laws and respect their customs even if you don’t like them. if not, stay home.
“The Ugly American…” Still a great read and lesson…
But the US is not the only country with those ideas. It’s pretty much the same about everywhere. “My culture is better than your culture…” is a fairly common syndrome.
Reference was made to the song, “It’s hard to be humble…” I have owned a little sign with that statement for about 40 years, never knew the singer – but am well familiar with the concept.
German thought under Hitler was filled with that idea – “Der Ubermensch”
The Russians
The French
The British
The Hulus
Etc.
The Texans
The, hm, is there another state?
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy said in that teacher’s exasperated voice that we all have heard. Or as I tend to say (when I’m being nice) Ay ay ay ay ay!
“. . . there were ways to measure whether or not I was doing my job right. These were objective standards, applied to all in the same job.”
Hate to burst your bubble but NO, they weren’t “objective” standards. Performance evaluations are very subjective by the very nature of what constitutes “performance”. If you would please give us a concrete example of one of your “objective standards” and how it was evaluated, it’d help further the discussion. TIA, Duane
Really???
I work with computers. When I started, I worked on Apple computers. Operating systems change. Software packages change. One of the OBJECTIVE requirements was that I kept up with those kind of developments. At the end of the year, there was the discussion: What did you do this past year to stay abreast of the changes? If I could not show (Certificates, studied hours etc.) that I had indeed kept up, that would be a problem.
Then we changed to PC’s. And guess what? I had to start from scratch. For some subjects in school the FACTS never change. A B C is still the way the alphabet starts. 2 + 2 = 4 has not changed. The delivery method changes, but the facts do not. My knowledge set has to change about every 6 months. Not only on HOW to use the PC, but what to do when it does not work (Did you plug it in?). When teachers want a new software package, they got to go to training, I was handed the software, and expected to support it (PLTW mean anything to anyone?).
Now I have a new job responsibility. And I had to take a whole new class – because I have to learn a whole new “language,” become acquainted with new terms etc. A mistake in my understanding could cost the District a fistful of dollars. How many dollars am I allowed to lose until my boss decides it is too much?
A thousand or so years ago, I worked for a special demolition company. the boss would go out, look at jobs, would do a cost/benefit analysis and bid. One of the money makers was special metals. I had to learn a lot about metallurgy. I was expected to be able to test specific materials, and tell my boss what they were. If I failed, told to work harder.
I worked for a Dunn & Bradstreet like company. One of my jobs was to go through credit requests from companies. I had to have a “workable knowledge” of finance and business laws, as applicable for my job. Once a year, I was “tested” Failed? Too bad, so sad. No raise.
I can go on… But I think the above should help.
No, Rudy, it doesn’t suffice for you have not addressed my concern about the differences between objective and subjective evaluations. What you describe are very subjective evaluations. Do they include counts of things (courses you took) yes, but that does not make them “objective”. Putting a number on things is not being objective as it is tertiary at best in that someone has to decide, the subjective part, which numbers mean what for what purposes. No, you have not addressed my concerns at all.
p.s. D&B and its ilk are far from being “objective” companies.
When the measure system is a) job related, b) standardized for all employees in the same job and c) there is only one way the data can be explained and used, you HAVE an OBJECTIVE standard. It is not ambiguous, open for multiple interpretations etc. It meets the dictionary of objective ((of a person or their judgment) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.).
I either fulfilled a requirement or I did not. I either met the goals set in production or not. I increased my skill set (demonstrably) or not.
Not sure how YOU define OBJECTIVE…
Again, the subjectivity comes in deciding what factors go into that vaunted “objective” evaluation. Those “personal feelings or opinions” are very evident in that regard.
Not necessarily. If these were the makings of a single person, that danger is much greater. But when a group of stakeholders get together, and in the end agree on the outcome, I have about as objective a standard as I can shoot for.
If you want an example of a real subjective way to evaluate: Have you ever been the “victim” of a 360 degree evaluation?
Not sure what a “360 degree” evaluation is. Please explain.
That is when every one who is considered a “stakeholder” (parent, peer, staff, employees) get to fill out an evaluation. Whether they have anything to do with you personally or not. And they are anonymous…
Dog pile is another descriptor. Or wolves.
So, a parent that never saw a teacher teach,never spent a day in the teacher’s classroom, is allowed to rate a teacher based on what their child tells them, even when the child causes endless disruptions in the classroom, doesn’t like to read, doesn’t do the classwork or home work, and makes it clear at home and in class that he hates going to school and would rather be home texting and playing video games with expected lifelong support from his parents, thanks to the dysfunctional family that child comes from.
When I was teaching, on parent conference night each semester, the average teacher saw about 10-to-15 percent of the parents of his students and most of those parents had children earning Cs or better. Few of the parents of failing children came to parent conference nights. These numbers held true for thirty years.
Letting all alleged stakeholders, parents, children, etc., rate teachers is a dog/wolf turd pile.
At the high school where I taught, the students voted annually for teacher of the year. The teacher that won almost every year was known by his students as Mr. Hollywood, and he often started each class, before the film (historical in nature), with a joke. Mr. Hollywood taught history and he never failed a student even if that student never did any work. Mr. Hollywood was also a coach and taught PE classes and coached football. He did not teach a full load of history classes. His football team won lots of competitions so he was considered untouchable.
Meanwhile, a teacher that held students accountable for their academic work and made lots of phone calls to parents to tell them about the work often ranked poorly in teacher of the year student vote results.
Wow, now that is really insane. And no, I’ve never been through anything like that. I wonder who came up with that inanity of evaluation.
At the same time I have been subjected to an evaluation where everything that I did in the job for the prior four years was excellent, but was then told that because of the economic downturn they wanted to cut costs, were letting me go and paying another employee 30% less (she also did not have anywhere near my experience) because I set up the job so well they didn’t need to pay anyone as much to do it. And I got to train her or else the company would fight me collecting unemployment (which I did collect for the first and only time ever just because the company had to pay a portion of it) Gee whiz, thanks.
Again, unless you’re talking of scientific, metrological standards, those standards to which you refer are, indeed, subjective and not “objective”.
When we all have the exact same tools and the exact same “raw materials” that produce the exact same product when the same procedures are applied, then we can talk about your check list of outcomes.
“I had hoped that now you would have figured out some objective way to evaluate teachers…”
There is no “objective way to evaluate teachers”. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t subjective ways to evaluate teachers that truthfully evaluate and assess a teacher’s performance. Those performance assessments have been going on since the first teacher was hired way back in ancient dead white guy Greek times (that is for Western Civilization, notwithstanding the many, many other cultures throughout the world through time wherein “teachers” were evaluated by other human beings).
Please give us a concrete example of a supposedly “objective” evaluation practice, whether in the business sector or the education realm. TIA, Duane.
So, if there is no objective way, it does not make any difference whether teachers are evaluated, right?
Let bad teachers stay in the system. The union protects them anyway… Would you accept that from your doctor? Car mechanic?
Rudy,
Your obsession with evaluation is a bit much. Half the people who enter teaching leave within five years. Would you prefer it if they all were to leave?
To answer your first question: NO, absolutely not and I’ve never suggested that thought. Strawman arguments don’t cut it.
And your last two: Again you are using a strawman argument as I’ve never suggested to “let bad teachers stay in the system” and no one here on this site has come close to stating so. Hogwash. So your last two questions are mute.
I think the word you were looking for was “moot.”
So, when I “extremise” a position, it’s unacceptable, obviously. Can we PLEASE use the same set of rules for everyone???
Yes, thanks for the correction, my bad. I love the English language, especially when it comes to spelling words that are pronounced the same but have different spellings.
By “extremise” do you “hyperbolize”. If so, then I missed the hyperbolic aspect.
And I’m not sure to which set of rules you refer. Help me out!
My postings often get “extremised” (Not a word, I know, but it does get my point accross. Taking some Germanic liberties with the English language: If a word does not exist, make it up).
You took exception to my doing that with your response. That is (but one of the) rules I referred to. My intellectual capacities are often ridiculed (Any other people on the list who speak four languages? Have 2 Master degrees, is ABD? Is very well aware of what is happening day to day in education, healthcare, history etc. in more than one country?) but the moment I do such, I get told that such things “do not happen on this blog…”
So I may get a bit more sarcastic than I should. My apologies.
“Any other people on the list who speak four languages? Have 2 Master degrees, is ABD?”
Only two languages, one masters and also did doctoral work till my funding was pulled. So no, not quite up to yours but those things really don’t have much to do with the price of tea in China. I’m not a fan of “credentialing” even if self credentialed.
I enjoy your posts, and obviously don’t always agree with what you have to say but I urge you to keep on writing. And thanks for doing so!
My niece taught students in FL at a community college; she invited one of her students and his mother from Germany to her wedding and we had the usual “rice” with flowers and netting to “toss… when explaining to him he said “oh, good luck brining bombs” and I just loved it so very much that he had this expression that was so different and yet full of meaning. It is one of my treasured exempts .
Taking some Germanic liberties with the English language: If a word does not exist, make it up).
jeanhaverhill@aol.com
we know how to evaluate teachers–we just don’t have the will, the money, or the courage to actually do it.
evaluating teachers requires knowledgable supervisors and peers to spend significant time in teachers’ classrooms; reviews of videotaped teaching episodes with content-area experts using “think-aloud” protocols designed to uncover teachers’ reflections on their practice; joint teacher planning time and release-time so that teachers can meet with supervisors and peers to discuss teaching practices; the use of teacher-designed assessment tools, the results of which can be used to improve teaching practice.
instead, the reformers are suggesting simplistic measures with limited or no reliability or validity for their intended purposes–because their goals have nothing to do with improving teachers’ practices, and everything to do with terminating experienced teachers.
What you are describing is really a robust professional development program, not an evaluation protocol. Unless you intend for your teachers to emerge from being “professionally developed” in some sort of lockstep formation using the professional development process for evaluation immediately turns that “development” into no more than a series of mandates of how teaching should be done. Anyone who has spent any time in a classroom knows that good teachers do not come from a cookie cutter training program.
Rudy,
When you want something done right, you do it yourself. You don’t let a company like foreign based Pearson do it for you. You don’t let them use misapplied apps and algorithms to replace you. Now, Rudy, you asked for it: Here comes the monkey!
?????
No idea what you are talking about. I offered a suggestion to evaluate teacher objectively, since current systems cannot offer that (and I explained why)
It’s like accreditation in a state. A group of people from District X comes to your district, looks at everything, kicks the tires, looks for loose screw, looks at whatever standards exist, and then writes you up an evaluation – good here, need work there, really out of whack with…
And all the while, in the back of their head, is the thought: What if THESE people come to MY district???
Children are vulnerable beings, and teaching them is a serious responsibility, capable of inspiring and freeing, or destroying, them.
Thus, we must follow our own version of the Hippocratic Oath” “First, do no harm.”
That’s something the so-called reformers are either oblivious to, or contemptuous of.
….to fire teachers and break unions. With the added benefit of discrediting the profession.
Why is this even a question, even in frustration?
Again, all of the academic papers, policy papers, and position papers, eminating from universities and deeply evaluated under peer review and harnessing the best philosophical underpinnings and being the most clear and erudite and rational arguments….DON’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE without dominating and holding the public narrative.
Why is this still something we can’t grasp, understand, and move forward on?
We are losing against the privatizers deeply, and part of the reason is that it seems we are spinning our wheels and not moving on with some basic assumptions.
“Reform” today has little to do with evidence and a lot to do with politics. Despite the mountain of evidence against inappropriate standardized testing and “reform,” the misguided forces of privatization continue to spew their same old lies and catch phrases with little connection to reality. “Reformers” stay on message with the help of the media in order to brainwash a large segment of the population. After all, it worked for Trump! “Reform” is a propaganda campaign designed to crush public education. Standardized testing is a tool of destruction to forward the demise of public schools. Many authoritarian type people will accept fake “data” as fact without looking at all the erroneous assumptions, lies and misapplications. “Reformers” want to appear legitimate, and fake statistics provide them with the cover of legitimacy. Researchers may turn blue with frustration over the flawed data. The “reform” people could care less. They have their eyes on the prize, access to free public money, and destruction of unions and teaching as a profession.
It has nothing to do with the validity of the measures.
It has to everything to do with the transfer of control from the soon to be extinct profession to the politicians and the corporations who purchase them.
Teachers need to wake up and smell the red herrings and stop 🛑 suckering for this kettle of bait.
“It has nothing to do with the validity of the measures.”
That is because there is/are no “measure(s)” of the teaching and learning process.
How can something be valid/invalid when it doesn’t exist?
Litigation… I grew up in the house of a bunch of lawyers. Courts are still a venue of justice and reason. Any cynicism regarding our ability to hold wrong doers accountable in court is misplaced. The corporate reformers will be held financially liable and more importantly, will be publicly rebuked for the damage they’ve caused.
Diane will probably post this today — it just came through on NEPC email…. These are the same people from University of Walton that bring you ESAs (pushing this across the whole southwest) and using their “research” to justify things like “social impact bonds” at Rikers Island and in juvenile justice programs ……
NEPC reports on the ESA (look at the WSJ description of why they now regret setting up 401 K ) more junk science….
When I experienced the insanity of watching administrators and district BigWigs manipulate data as a means to bring in forever changing short-term grants/funding I wrote about “The Scientific Value of OOPS.” I might have been better served with this term: JUNK SCIENCE. 🙂
attachments from NEPC …zombie causation could not possibly be of use to lawmakers looking for trustworthy information.”
Find Professor Belfield’s review on the web at:
http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-school-choice
Find the recent U. Arkansas report on the web at:
http://www.uaedreform.org/whether-to-approve-an-education-savings-account-program-in-texas-preventing-crime-does-pay/
VAM Slammed!
The test-based “Value-Added Method” (VAM) of evaluating teachers has been “slammed” — quoting The Washington Post — by the very people who know the most about data measurement: The American Statistical Association (ASA). The findings of the ASA provide a firm basis by which every teacher who is unfavorably evaluated on students’ standardized test scores to vigorously oppose the evaluation, citing the ASA’s authoritative, detailed, seven-page VAM-slam “Statement on Using Value-Added Models for Educational Assessment”.
Even the anti-public school, anti-union Washington Post newspaper said this about the ASA Statement: “You can be certain that members of the American Statistical Association, the largest organization in the United States representing statisticians and related professionals, know a thing or two about data and measurement. The ASA just slammed the high-stakes ‘value-added method’ (VAM) of evaluating teachers that has been increasingly embraced in states as part of school-reform efforts. VAM purports to be able to take student standardized test scores and measure the ‘value’ a teacher adds to student learning through complicated formulas that can supposedly factor out all of the other influences and emerge with a valid assessment of how effective a particular teacher has been. THESE FORMULAS CAN’T ACTUALLY DO THIS (emphasis added) with sufficient reliability and validity, but school reformers have pushed this approach and now most states use VAM as part of teacher evaluations.”
The ASA Statement points out the following and many other failings of testing-based VAM:
“System-level conditions” include everything from overcrowded and underfunded classrooms to district-and site-level management of the schools and to student poverty.
A copy of the VAM-slamming ASA Statement should be posted on the union bulletin board at every school site throughout our nation and should be explained to every teacher by their union at individual site faculty meetings so that teachers are aware of what it says about how invalid it is to use standardized test results to evaluate teachers.
Fight back! Never, never, never give up!
Then state and federal governments need to stop financially incentivizing school districts to use VAM measures…and governments need to commit to developing teachers and fully funding PUBLIC schools regardless of student test scores.
Could I get a chance to evaluate administrators? I am being evaluated to death and it isn’t pretty. My observations are like a fishing expedition. As soon as I put one of their requirements into practice, they come up with a —-load of new requirements.
As education leaders, it would not be inappropriate to ask your administrator to teach a demo lesson to help you understand exactly what they are looking for. HA!
an “oldie.but goody” by Bruce Baker. in light of the foolish rankings by Quality Counts, MA has too much hubris and “smugness” on test scores when we are ranked #42 on equity measures/metrics. This paper by Bruce Baker has some interesting thoughts — in particular look at the quote for spending in MA in relationship to pupil achievement. http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/viewFile/1721/1357
Yes they’ve joined the “blame the teacher movement.” Just say “Yes Sir, Yes Madam.” Then do what you know is best.
Also, avoid, avoid avoid… don’t make the mistake of trying to meet the demands of someone who is continually criticizing you.
To really improve our teaching, we all need the one resource that is never offered: TIME.
Whenever an administrator asks for more, it is fair to ask for the TIME needed to develop and implement their latest demand. I prefer passive aggression myself; quiet defiance works wonders for the soul.
Cuomo’s witch hunt using VAM was an epic fail.
Now why have virtually all administrators and school boards in NYS decided to use distributed/shared HS Regents scores to evaluate virtually all K to 12 teachers – at 50%?
The last thing any building principal wants is to clear house then roll the dice on a group of untested, unproven newbies. APPR in NYS has become a running joke for all involved.
No serious teacher evaluation plan should exclude teacher knowledge and competency in their subject area(s). Both traditional and reform models all ignore this crucial piece. When we were getting our initial Marzano training, back in 2013, I asked the presenter why Marzano overlooked content knowledge in his rubric; of course I got the expected
non-answer.
By measuring year-to-year student data, you can easily spot an effective teacher I was told I couldn’t request better teachers. But after watching my child’s standardized 15 min test scores drop every two months, and me complaining that the teacher was at fault, I got my requested teachers the following years. She nailed the state tests in the 99th percentile with my request teachers. Just saying.
you have brought up several different issues that are important. I am glad that the administration listened to your request. I am assuming you are mentioning a test here something like DIBELs? and you wanted to see results showing up on those measures? When you ask the administration to help the student achieve on those measures, schools will frequently be able to help with that goal.
We had a discussion yesterday about how the teachers went through IEPS and found that many were recommending WILSON reading so they made sure that they had good staff development on that type of program — it is related to Spalding reading program and Gillingham etc. which have been known to produce results for some students and it would most likely show up on a test like DIBELS. If the administration listens to you (even if took them a while) I am pleased . So this is only one issue (out of the many you raise) but you can align a DIBELS test with a program like Spalding/Wilson/Gillingham and sometimes (if not always) get results. We had one boy who moved in from NH to MA and the teachers had told the parents he will “never learn to read” , but given the Wilson/Spalding/Gilingham methods he made measurable progress.
In general, the schools where I live focus on NAEP tests and are trying to align the curriculum with the NAEP tests… That has advantages and disadvantages and a whole new set of “problems” or “issues” . But the basic issue you have brought up is important — how do we align the program/curriculum with the test we are using and are the tests the appropriate ones? or should we choose a different test? or a different program/curriculuum? is the curriculum the best we can offer? I know I had one discussion with a parent on FB and she wanted the school to align a curriculum with the Barkley methods .. she was paying $50,000 a year in a private school to get that method for her child with specie needs and she wanted it in a local neighborhod school where she would not have to pay. Some districts can accommodate those types of requests. But that is another whole issue that is totally separate from the one I just talked about here — go over to Diane’s blog page yesterday and read the case of “DREW” (Endrew) that is going to the Supreme Court and you will see how complicated it can become when we work with many students in a school or the school committee has to consider all of the students in the district. etc. and what tests and what programs can be offered …. and, I don’t know where you live, but the case about DREW is in Colorado and the conditions are similar but somewhat different from where i work in MA.