A new report, “An Ocean of Unknowns”, from Laura Bornfreund at the New America Foundation describes the challenges involved with attempting to reform teacher evaluation systems to include student data for pre-k through grade 2 students. Following are portions from the executive summary of that report: What is the best Read more
The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders combines the efforts of three education organizations: American Institutes for Research (AIR), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and Public Impact. They are dedicated to supporting state education leaders in their efforts to grow, respect, and retain great teachers and leaders for all Read more
Value-added methodology is being applied to the evaluation of teachers in tested grades and subjects, but the vast majority of the research on value-added measures focuses on elementary schools only. Secondary grades differ from elementary grades in ways that are meaningful for the validity and reliability of value-added measures for Read more
Nearly every state is revamping its teacher evaluation system, with most states requiring evaluations that employ a mixture of student performance and observation of teachers. While there has been much forward movement, there has been just as much concern, especially over the fairness of the new evaluations for teachers in Read more
Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently gave a speech to the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California. His remarks addressed the issue of testing, specifically with Common Core implementation becoming ever more imminent. Here are some excerpts from the speech: Introduction: With federal support, 44 states plus Read more
Download a new white paper written by Core Education’s president, Kimberly Fleming, PhD: https://www9.performancematters.com/?page_id=1308 Following is from the press release about the white paper: Over the last 15 years, Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) have gained tremendous momentum in K-12 education. In several states, including Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Read more
Aspen Institute’s Education & Society Program recently released a new report entitled, “Evaluating Evaluations: Using Teacher Surveys to Strengthen Implementation” by Ross Wiener of the Aspen Institute and Kasia Lundy of The Parthenon Group. Apple and other high-performing companies use employee surveys to drive continuous improvement. The report asks why Read more
Even though it has been known for some time that teachers and principals play the largest role in student success, it is only recently that districts and schools have started making requisite changes to their strategic management of talent. This is the central contention of Allan Odden’s new report, Getting Read more
Back in mid-March, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, hosted the third International Summit on the Teaching Profession. This particular summit focused on teacher quality, including professional standards and teacher appraisal. The past two took place in New York City at the invitation of Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Marc Tucker of the National Read more
With news that 7 teachers in Florida, with the support of the National Education Association, are suing the Florida State Education Department, the issue of how to evaluate teachers is again making headlines. The teachers in Florida assert that their due process and equal protection rights are being violated because Read more
Through the influence of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has provided money for many different educational studies in recent years, Bill Gates has become an influential name in education. It might be expected that Gates would support educational reforms more along the lines of the privatization-corporatization model as Read more
Data from states that have recently begun using teacher evaluations aligned with student performance suggest that the numbers can be deceiving. Very high percentages of teachers are receiving “effective” or higher scores on their teacher evaluations—above 97% in Florida, Michigan, and Tennessee. Depending on whom you talk to, this can Read more
In “Flexibility for Fairness: Crafting Business Rules for Student Learning Objectives” AIR’s Amy Potemski explores the ways in which states are creating “business rules” to allow for flexibility in the SLO process. SLOs, or Student Learning Objectives, are being used across states as a way to provide a student growth Read more
Michael Hansen of AEI Education, has penned a new report examining teacher evaluations systems. Hansen believes that, whether or not student test scores continue to be demanded as the gold standard for teacher evaluations, data analysis will be the crucial factor in the future of teacher evaluations. As more states Read more
From the press release by the Boston-based Community Training and Assistance Center: As states and school districts increasingly use Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) in high stakes teacher evaluation and compensation systems to measure student academic growth, a new five-year study reports that high quality SLOs do improve teaching and bolster Read more
If the Common Core initiative is to have a chance to take off, a new strategy of professional development, coupled with thoughtful evaluation is necessary. This is according to Peter Youngs, writing under the auspices of the Center for American Progress. This new strategy requires reform of the current system Read more