Until this year, only a few
districts used value - added data.
[25] When
a district uses value - added measures, some teachers might try to «game the system» and get assigned to students who are most likely to make achievement gains or to move to schools where the biases seem to give teachers an advantage.
Not exact matches
Also, if the village approves the plan, the park
district would receive a 6 - acre parcel of undetermined
value to
use as it sees fit.
Using the Department of Justice's data on corruption - related convictions of public officials, the researchers found that from 1990 to 2011, firm
value was substantially lower in more corrupt states and federal
districts.
In other words, whereas consequential decisions to retain, promote, and compensate teachers based on their
value - added to student achievement surely involve error, the
districts we studied are
using state - of - the - art
value - added systems that minimize such error as much as is presently possible.
In our recent article for Education Next, «Choosing the Right Growth Measure,» we laid out an argument for why we believe a proportional growth measure that levels the playing field between advantaged and disadvantaged schools (represented in the article by a two - step
value - added model) is the best choice for
use in state and
district accountability systems.
If you follow the increasing
use of
Value - Added Measures (VAMs) and Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) in state -,
district -, school -, and teacher - accountability systems, read this very good new Mathematica working paper.
The Times analysis
used a «
value added» statistical analysis of math and English scores from the school
district — the nation's second largest — to estimate the effectiveness of third - through fifth - grade teachers.
The NCRPP research
use survey focuses on the core of «research
use» in three related, but separate, constructs: the ways that school and
district leaders 1) apply research in their decision - making processes; 2)
value research as an important component for decision - making; and 3) evaluate research quality.
• The annual testing in grades 3 through 8 required by the federal law will make it possible for states and
districts to
use «
value added» approaches to measuring the performance of schools.
Tennessee, where lawmakers passed legislation that mandates
using student achievement as half of a teacher's annual evaluation in every
district, stood out for its mature «
value - added» data system that has been around for nearly two decades.
Value - added modeling is
used in hundreds of
districts.
Deasy had called for
using a
district - developed,
value - added method of interpreting a teacher's impact on students» test scores, taking into account a student's family income and ethnicity.
The CPE Briefing Room adds
value to the reports found on the CPE public website with content designed exclusively for the
use of local school boards and
district leadership teams.
Imagine Andrews is part of the national Imagine Schools network, 70 charter schools serving 38,000 students in 12 states and the
District of Columbia, which
use five Measures of Excellence to evaluate the effectiveness of each school, including academic growth, character development, economic sustainability, parent choice, and shared
values.
Because
value - added measures were so reliable at predicting teachers» performance, the researchers urged school
districts to
use it as a «benchmark» for studying the effect of other measures.
But in major
districts including Washington's, New York's and Houston's — and perhaps soon, Los Angeles» — officials are
using a method called «
value - added» to bring a measure of objectivity to the process.
School,
district, and state leaders may be able to improve teaching by
using value - added to shape decisions about programs, human resources, and incentives.
Some
districts are
using value - added measures to make sure that their lowest performing students have access to effective teachers.
With some
districts already
using value - added measures to make decisions about hiring, firing and promotion,
value added is a sharp tool.
Because
value - added measures were so reliable at predicting teachers» future performance, the researchers urged school
districts to
use it as a «benchmark» for studying the effect of other measures.
The Times began publishing articles in August
using value - added analysis to estimate the effectiveness of thousands of
district teachers in raising test scores.
More generally, while research can evaluate the effectiveness of policies that
use value - added measures, research can never determine the optimal approach for a given
district or school.
However, most
districts are
using value - added to rank teachers across the
district, and in
districts that reflect neighborhood residential segregation,
value - added rankings will compare teachers who teach very different types of students.
Research and past experience suggests that teachers should be prepared for greater year - to - year variability in their
value - added ranking for a few years after the change when
districts use both old and new tests for
value - added calculations.
While research can inform the
use of
value - added measures, most decisions about how to
use these measures require personal judgment, as well as a greater understanding of school and
district factors than research can provide.
The Teacher Incentive Fund
districts are currently among the first in Ohio to begin creating student learning objectives in addition to
using value - added as a measure of student growth.
Districts, states, and schools can, at least in theory, generate gains in educational outcomes for students
using value - added measures in three ways: creating information on effective programs, making better decisions about human resources, and establishing incentives for higher performance from teachers.
He did not, however, testify as to how
value - added output gave him this information, as the information about which he spoke was primarily about the observational system now in place, and the conversations surrounding such data, although
districts also
used similar observational systems prior.
And while I may disagree with some very smart people (and yes this makes me nervous) about how they should be
used (I lean towards principals
using them on a micro level,
districts and beyond
using them at the macro, ie not to evaluate individual teachers, but schools,
districts, etc) I don't think anyone can disagree on this hard fact: not every K - 12 classroom will be tested every year in a way that is rigorous or consistent enough for
value - added analysis.
USED uses five growth models to calculate AYP of schools and
districts:
value added,
value table, trajectory, projection, and student growth percentile.
Using value - added modeling, a team of researchers analyzed the test scores of students from these
districts.
That's the claim of state lawmakers who say the problem lies in Tax Increment Finance (TIF)
districts, a mechanism that allows local governments to
use tax revenues created by increasing property
values in the
districts to encourage development.
Her research (funded by the U.S. Department of Education) on the proficiency of their
district - and school - level integrated management systems was
used to provide recommendations to the
districts and compared with student achievement outcomes and organizational
values.
Sharon Schisel
used to send her kids to
district schools but says she witnessed inappropriate behavior there, including bullying, and the
values she taught at home were «constantly being undone» at school.
An economic development tool
used in Illinois is hiding the rising
value of some taxable property, skewing the state funding formula for schools and depriving poor
districts their fare share of funding.
It's easy to understand why teachers are not always thrilled when they learn their
district is considering
using value - added models to help evaluate their effectiveness.
The meeting offers collaboration with other leading school
districts tackling similar challenges; an opportunity to build relationships with peers in similar roles across the country and Truenorthlogic leadership; and, training to help get the most
value from
using Truenorthlogic's solutions.
Because of tax and debt limits, educational
districts could not raise tax rates or borrow more money
using traditional Current Interest Bonds to compensate for the loss in revenue resulting from the decline in property
values.
A recent LA Times story called the tentative deal a decisive win for the union because it doesn't require a certain
use of
value - added measures that have been agreed to in other
districts.
For
district leaders, a key challenge in
using measures of student growth, especially
value - added ones, is creating communications to help minimize confusion and anxiety.
Specifically,
district policies should ensure that any commercial materials
used in schools (1) are consistent with the
district's
values, goals, and objectives; (2) respond to a clearly defined educational need; (3) support the adopted curriculum; and (4) do not promote a brand - name product.
You don't really care about treatises on whether families are best being customers of schools, or ideological debates over the
value of Common Core, or pablum from school choice activists with jobs to protect about why state tests shouldn't be
used to hold accountable private schools taking vouchers for serving kids, or if an Obama Administration plan to address suspensions is somehow a punishment to traditional
district schools that have been failing kids for decade after decade.
«To construct / renovate classrooms, restrooms / school facilities to improve the quality of education at Brittan Elementary School, build a gymnasium for school and community
use; repair, construct, acquire classrooms, sites and equipment, shall this Brittan Elementary School
District measure be adopted to issue $ 4,000,000 of bonds at legal rates, levy approximately 3 cents / $ 100 assessed
value, generating approximately $ 260,000 annually while bonds are outstanding, with annual audits, independent citizens» oversight, NO money for salaries, all money staying local?»
Each school
district that has
used value - added follows slightly different methods, and supporters of the approach say it should not be
used as the sole measure of a teacher's ability.
The table below presents A Rubric for Cultural Proficiency Professional Learning in Support of Common Core Standards that can be
used to examine the school's and / or
district's healthy / unhealthy and productive / unproductive
values, language and behaviors placed along the Continuum.
The Tennessee
Value - Added Assessment System is
used to measure students, teachers, schools and school
districts in Tennessee.
If the accountability and expertise of the private sector add
value and return on the public investment, then the
district should
use private - sector entities.
[4] As the
use of
value - added models now allow for the development of a more meaningful understanding of teacher effectiveness,
districts should ensure that performance pay systems consider both qualitative and quantitative measures in order to fairly assess and compensate teachers for their performance.
For more information on the reliability of many evaluation systems, particularly the binary systems
used by the vast majority of school
districts, see S. Glazerman, D. Goldhaber, S. Loeb, S. Raudenbush, D. Staiger, and G. Whitehurst, «Evaluating Teachers: The Important Role of
Value - Added.»