The pilots were also the first test case of the state's use
of student test scores as part of the ratings for teachers whose students take the state's language arts and math tests, roughly about a sixth of the total.
Two separate education groups, which include teachers, parents and activists, last week endorsed the use
of student test scores as one measure of instructors» effectiveness.
Two other education groups came forward June 1 with proposals for new teacher performance reviews that also endorsed the use
of student test scores as one measure to determine teacher effectiveness.
Pressure to improve teacher evaluations deepened Thursday, when two separate Los Angeles education groups endorsed the use
of student test scores as one measure to review instructors — a controversial element that many unions have fought.
The entire school reform movement based on the use
of student test scores as a lever to bring about improvement should be re-thought.
The National Board's researchers rejected the use
of student test scores as a measure of teacher performance, claiming, «It is not too much of an exaggeration to state that such measures have been cited as a cause of all of the nation's considerable problems in educating our youth....
Ms. Malliotakis supports the state Education Department's use
of student test scores as one of the criteria used to evaluate a teacher.
Not exact matches
Comparing national
test scores, Catholic schools in general (
as with most private schools) perform better in both reading and math than public schools although the advantage is stronger in reading than in Math though the difference in Math was still statistically significant; however, this could be due to the self selecting nature
of the
students in Catholic schools where the parents have made the decision to value education to the extent
of paying for it.
Jackson had access to each
student's
scores on the statewide standardized
test, and he used that
as a rough measure
of their cognitive ability.
Finally, in Houston in 2010 — 11, he gave cash incentives to fifth - grade
students in 25 low - performing public schools,
as well
as to the parents and teachers
of those
students, with the intent
of increasing the time they spent on math homework and improving their
scores on standardized math
tests.
And she found that it's incredibly predictive, that people are pretty honest about their grit levels and that those who say, «Yes, I really stick with tasks,» are much more likely to succeed, even in tasks that involve a lot
of what we think
of as IQ: She gave the
test to
students who were in the National Spelling Bee and the kids with the highest grit
scores were more likely to persist to the later rounds; she gave it to freshmen at the University
of Pennsylvania and grit helped them persist in college; she even gave it to cadets at West Point and it predicted who was going to survive this initiation called «Beast Barracks.»
And, when research uses standardized
tests to measure homework's impact, she continued, it is difficult to gauge how much
of the overall improvement or decline in
test scores is due to
student learning in the classroom context
as opposed to
student learning from homework.
The letter, written by a top Cuomo aide, says the
student test scores are «unacceptable,» and asks Board
of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and outgoing Education Commissioner John King what to do about an evaluation system that rates just 1 percent
of all
of the teachers in the state
as poorly performing.
While he has protected and promoted the growth
of charter schools, other aspects
of his education policy have not gone
as planned - these include the rollout
of the common core learning standards and tougher teacher evaluations by tying them more closely to the results
of student standardized
test scores.
Cuomo has sought a two - year moratorium on using
test scores in
students» grades, but wanted to use the
testing as part
of the job evaluations
of teachers and principals.
But her stance on Common Core could factor into Rosa's relationship with state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, who has supported the move toward higher standards,
as well
as the use
of student test scores in teacher evaluations.
Rosa has garnered support from the state's teachers unions
as well
as test refusal leaders, but Common Core advocates are fearful that Rosa will undo the work
of her predecessor, Tisch, who championed the Common Core and the use
of student test scores in evaluating teachers.
The DOE wants the middle school planed for vacant sections
of popular P.S. 158 to admit
students who meet somewhat stringent admissions criteria, such
as good attendance records or
test scores,
as well
as students who would meet lower standards, according to a notice released by the department.
As part
of New York's Race To The Top federal grant, the state is working with data integration companies to build a database
of student information, including demographics,
test scores and behavior records.
«To deny New York City's 1.1 million
students anything less than the full preservation
of mayoral control is to subject them to the dysfunction and chaos
of the old system,
as well
as risk an end to higher
test scores and graduation rates.
The evaluation system pushed by Cuomo
as part
of this 2010 re-election campaign devotes half
of a teacher's evaluation on their
students» performance on standardized
test scores that teacher unions argue is a poor measure
of a teacher's ability.
The changes placed greater emphasis on
student test scores as a component
of evaluations and established financial penalties for any school districts that did not comply.
The law, which bases
as much
as 50 percent
of teachers» job ratings on
student test scores, was strengthened during a time when more rigorous standardized exams, based on the national Common Core academic standards, were being introduced into classrooms.
Tisch, who served nearly 20 years
as a Regent and six
as the Chancellor, led the controversial movements to adopt rigorous Common Core standards and tie a portion
of teacher evaluations to
student test scores, and also implemented more difficult state exams during her tenure.
Opt - out activists have said the number will continue to grow, citing reasons such
as the perceived «over-testing»
of students using exams that are not age and grade appropriate,
as well
as the use
of test scores on teacher evaluations.
While P.S. 130 has strong
test scores, TriBeCa parents were concerned about the school's stricter rules, including a requirement that
students must wear uniforms, and parents also worried their children would have trouble making friends because 70 percent
of incoming kindergarteners at P.S. 130 do not speak English
as a primary language.
As part
of the 2015 state budget lawmakers voted to create the new teacher evaluation system that places a greater emphasis on
student test scores when evaluating the job performance
of teachers and principals.
Over the last several months, discussions
of the Common Core State Standards have been eclipsed by the public's reaction to major issues which have arisen in their implementation — issues such
as declining
student test scores, and the role
of such
test scores in teacher evaluations, evaluations mandated if a state was to receive its share
of federal money from the «Race to the Top» funds.
In January, arguing to increase the weight
of test scores, Mr. Cuomo cited the small number
of teachers who were rated ineffective, noting that at the same time only about a third
of students were reading or doing math at grade level,
as measured by state
tests.
It gave former Mayor Bloomberg outsize power over the system, and helped make sure that teachers, parents and advocates had to fight at meetings, on the streets and in the courts to block his efforts to close schools and establish standardized
test scores as the only measure
of students and teachers.
The
scores of New York City
students increased slightly in both math and English language arts on the latest state
tests, released on Aug. 14,
as students became more familiar with the Common Core Learning Standards and their teachers worked hard with what materials and training they eventually got.
On the respective scales utilized to
test anxiety and depression, 41 percent
of graduate
students scored as having moderate to severe anxiety while 39 percent
scored in the moderate to severe depression range.
«
Students»
scores on a
test of civic knowledge significantly improved after playing iCivics for the sample
as a whole,» LeCompte said.
In one study
of 1,651 high school
students from three states, reading ability was just
as important to
students» science - class grades and
scores on state - level science
tests as the amount
of science knowledge they had.
The findings held true for all
students, regardless
of whether they appeared likely or unlikely to attend selective schools,
as predicted by
student background characteristics such
as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and pre-college
test scores.
He makes a convincing case for incorporating valuable but less easily measured attributes into our view
of intelligence, such
as the persistence that can propel driven
students to higher
test scores than their less committed peers and the creativity demonstrated by individuals more in tune with intuition than intellect.
«After developing our scale, data from follow - up
testing confirmed that
students» engagement
scores were positively correlated with indicators
of performance, such
as good grades and independent learning outside
of school motivated by interest.
The dataset included measures
of students» academic competence, specifically
test scores in math and reading,
as well
as psychosocial outcomes.
After crunching
test scores, GPAs, teacher evaluations, and social factors such
as immigration status, the team reports a simple explanation online today in the Proceedings
of the National Academy
of Sciences: Asian - American
students work harder.
Using
student - level data from two states, Harvard Professor Martin West and I found that 40 to 60 percent
of schools serving mostly low - income or underrepresented minority
students would fall into the bottom 15 percent
of schools statewide based on their average
test scores, but only 15 to 25 percent
of these same schools would be classified
as low performing based on their
test -
score growth.
[1] We ran two sets
of simulations: one where
students opt - out randomly, and another in which opt - out occurs among the highest - performing
students in each classroom (
as measured by their prior
test scores).
A second study, recently published in the Proceedings
of the National Academy
of Sciences (PNAS) by Gary Chamberlain, using the same data
as Chetty and his colleagues, provides fodder both for skeptics and supporters
of the use
of value - added: while confirming Chetty's finding that the teachers who have impacts on contemporaneous measures
of student learning also have impacts on earnings and college going, Chamberlain also found that
test -
scores are a very imperfect proxy for those impacts.
And the evidence on the importance
of teacher academic proficiency generally suggests that effectiveness in raising
student test scores is associated with strong cognitive skills
as measured by SAT or licensure
test scores, or the competitiveness
of the college from which teachers graduate.
As the state notes
of its system, «A central tenet
of AchieveNJ is that educators are never evaluated on a single factor or
test score alone, but on multiple measures
of both effective practice and
student learning.»
Ferguson noted that the quality
of the teacher (
as determined by
test scores, level
of education, and experience) accounts for 43 percent
of the difference in math
scores of students in grades 3 to 5.
But,
as numerous studies have shown, having a master's degree is generally not correlated with measures
of teacher effectiveness, based on
student test scores.
If the same approach is applied to the STAR sample to adjust for the fact that some
students did not enroll in the class they were assigned to - and a comparable sample
of low - income black
students is used - the gains in
test scores after two years
of attending a small class (average
of 16
students)
as opposed to a regular - size class (average
of 23
students) is 9.1 national percentile ranks in reading and 9.8 ranks in math.
Though we do not have data on every aspect
of teachers» working conditions, we do know certain characteristics
of their
students that many believe affect the teaching conditions at a school: the percentage
of low - income
students at the school (
as estimated by the percentage eligible for a subsidized lunch), the shares
of students who are African - American or Hispanic, average
student test scores, and class sizes.
Because
test scores will be used to penalize low -
scoring schools, they will act
as high - stakes
tests for teachers and administrators especially in schools serving high proportions
of poor and minority
students.
The exciting aspect
of this is that it has the potential to increase the reading levels
of our neediest
students, and could have an impact on our
test scores as well,» he told Education World.