In Study 4 we explored the ability of SRLTAS scores to discriminate from
other measures of student learning.
So are the new evaluations — many of which incorporate test scores or
other measures of student learning — any better at identifying poor teaching?
High - stakes testing is a «failed policy initiative» that does not produce gains on
other measures of student learning, researchers at Arizona State University in Tempe argue in a recent paper.
Not exact matches
Local school districts and their unions may negotiate a second
measure of student learning that would lead to
other scoring outcomes.
Whatever the parties negotiate or King decides, the evaluation system will be based 20 percent on standardized test scores when applicable, 20 percent on
other evidence
of student learning and 60 percent on classroom observation and
other measures of teacher effectiveness, in keeping with the 2010 state law on teacher evaluation.
University
students who
learned the Transcendental Meditation technique showed an improvement in general health as assessed by the Duke Health Profile (composed
of physical, mental, and social
measures) after three months, in contrast to groups
of students from two
other universities who did not
learn the Transcendental Meditation technique.
Do not use attendance as a metric for success Seat - time and
student attendance are the incorrect
measures of success in a world in which
learning can happen anywhere and at any time and are at odds with
other good language and goals in the executive summary (see Sec.
Evaluations
of any educational technology program often confront a number
of methodological problems, including the need for
measures other than standardized achievement tests, differences among
students in the opportunity to
learn, and differences in starting points and program implementation.
But, unfortunately, evidence from both the United States and
other countries shows that more school resources and smaller classes do not have much
of an effect on how much a
student learns in school, as
measured by tests
of achievement.
In tackling this task, Feinberg says, they «backed into» the five essential tenets
of the KIPP model: High Expectations (for academic achievement and conduct); Choice and Commitment (KIPP
students, parents, and teachers all sign a
learning pledge, promising to devote the time and effort needed to succeed); More Time (extended school day, week, and year); Power to Lead (school leaders have significant autonomy, including control over their budget, personnel, and culture); and Focus on Results (scores on standardized tests and
other objective
measures are coupled with a focus on character development).
There is a strong desire to expand beyond just academic indicators — including a
measure of growth is very important — but including things that are not direct
learning outcomes and focus more on environment and
other input
measures blurs the vision on what we want
students to know and be able to do.
So rather than just use
other measures to evaluate those teachers — like observations — states encouraged the creation
of «
student learning objectives» to fill the gap.
This allows us to
measure peer effects free from the reflection problem, providing a rare opportunity to test the notion that even one «bad apple» impedes the
learning of all
other students.
This is obviously a ripe area for further investigation and analysis, but today it's legitimate to observe, even on the basis
of this limited research, that the burden is shifting to the schools and their supporters to
measure and make public whatever academic benefit they do bestow on their
students versus what similar young people
learn in
other settings.
The authors suggest that
other states
learn from «the danger
of relying on statewide test scores as the sole
measure of student achievement when these scores are used to make high - stakes decisions about teachers and schools as well as
students.»
That is, we compare
students with the same demographic characteristics, the same test scores in the current year and in a previous year, the same responses to the surveys for
other social - emotional
measures collected by the district, and within the same school and grade, to see whether
students who look the same on all
of these
measures but have a stronger growth mindset
learn more over the course
of the following year.
They should specify a more advanced level
of practice with accompanying evidence, including instructional practices,
student learning, and
other measures.
Using the full population
of all first - year undergraduates enrolled at Northwestern between fall 2001 and fall 2008 (over 15,000
students in all), we empirically generate two new
measures of teaching quality — one an indicator
of inspiration (the rate
of «conversion»
of non-majors to majors) and the
other an indicator
of deep
learning (the degree to which a professor adds lasting value to
students»
learning that is reflected in success in future classes).
The Washoe County school district in Reno, Nev., has been way ahead
of most
other districts in its approach to social - emotional
learning, especially in
measuring students» SEL skills.
The value - added
measures are designed to provide estimates
of the independent effect
of the teacher on the growth in a
student's
learning and to separate this from
other influences on achievement such as families, peers, and neighborhoods.
And the second piece, though, is broadening out and redefining accountability so that we can try new things, so that it's not just about the two tests, that it's about high school graduation, but not just about high school graduation, that it's about
other ways
of measuring student progress and thinking about how kids
learn, and engaging kids like through project - based instruction.
But they may also provide more specific guidance about what is expected
of the teachers in the classroom if new experiments with
other measures are adopted — including tests that gauge teachers» mastery
of their subjects, surveys that ask
students about the
learning environments in their classes and digital videos
of teachers» lessons, scored by experts.
One
of the commitments that Washington — and every State that received ESEA flexibility — made was to put in place teacher and principal evaluation and support systems that take into account information on
student learning growth based on high - quality college - and career - ready (CCR) State assessments as a significant factor in determining teacher and principal performance levels, along with
other measures of professional practice such as classroom observations.
I was encouraged this week to
learn that ESSA — the new American education law — that replaced NCLB includes language that opens the door beyond academic testing to include «multiple
measures of student learning and progress, along with
other indicators
of student success...» Education Week notes that sprinkled throughout the law are references to an instructional strategy that has enormous potential for reaching learners with diverse needs.
While these tests do assess standards and the items have been field tested and correlated against
other items to ensure a more valid
measure of those standards, it is still a snapshot and it is limited in how these test scores can inform
students and teachers about
learning strengths and next steps.
This data, in conjunction with
other complementary impact
measures around school performance and accountability, will assist school leadership teams in the implementation
of initiatives geared towards elevated staff engagement and ultimately enhanced
learning environments and outcomes for
students.
For instance, university researchers at the Stanford University Graduate School
of Education's John W. Gardner Center recently partnered with the California CORE districts — which include the Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, Fresno Unified, Long Beach Unified, Santa Ana Unified, Sanger Unified, Garden Grove Unified, and Sacramento City Unified school districts — to design a new local school accountability system that included
measures of students» social - emotional
learning, growth mindset, self - efficacy, and school climate.51 Researchers found that these
measures were predictive
of students» test performance and correlated with
other important academic and behavioral outcomes.52
Standardized tests have historically been used as
measures of how
students compare with each
other (norm - referenced) or how much
of a particular curriculum they have
learned (criterion - referenced).
Multiple
measures of classroom practice,
student learning, and
other evidence related to the teacher's contribution to schoolwide improvement; and
I'm also not clear as to why teacher accountability (through evaluation
of student learning by test scores and
other, richer
measures) runs counter to teaching
students the value
of self - discipline and motivation.
Value - added approaches hold great promise, but there is a need to develop better tests (and
other thoughtful
measures of student learning) and better
measures of teacher practice to use along with test scores, so they are not the sole factor used to evaluate teacher effectiveness.
The law was passed in 2015 and in 2017 states drafted their plans, which included new accountability systems based on multiple
measures that include factors
other than test scores; conducting needs assessments for struggling schools and
learning communities facing the greatest challenges in order to tailor support and intervention when needed; developing clear and concise plans for targeting federal funding in ways that meet the needs
of students in the school; and implementing programs and monitoring their progress in collaboration with educators.
The evidence from research on these and
other systems indicate that through using performance assessments schools can focus instruction on higher order skills, provide a more accurate
measure of what
students know and can do, engage
students more deeply in
learning, and provide for more timely feedback to teachers, parents, and
students in order to monitor and alter instruction.
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 — including how violence affects
students — and emerge with a valid assessment
of how effective a particular teacher has been.
Evaluating teachers based on
student results on tests and other student assessments that were never designed to rate educators is neither a scientifically or educationally sound way to be used for a Measure of Student Learning portion of a teacher's
student results on tests and
other student assessments that were never designed to rate educators is neither a scientifically or educationally sound way to be used for a Measure of Student Learning portion of a teacher's
student assessments that were never designed to rate educators is neither a scientifically or educationally sound way to be used for a
Measure of Student Learning portion of a teacher's
Student Learning portion
of a teacher's rating.
By
measuring how much a particular teacher's
students learn and coupling these measurements with professional observation
of teaching practice and
other measures — such as surveys
of students» perceptions
of the classroom experience — education leaders can pinpoint which teachers are helping
students learn the most, and which are struggling.
Renewed calls for improved teacher training have inspired a number
of organizations to create lists
of the professional skills new teachers need and to design rubrics and
other instruments to
measure how well candidates are mastering such basic capabilities as designing lessons, interpreting
student work, and creating a safe
learning environment.
Student learning must be
measured by the ability to transfer knowledge in unfamiliar situations, performance in authentic situations and demonstrations
of expertise in
other contexts.
Most importantly, Dr. Darling - Hammond states that evaluation should include evidence
of student learning but from sources
other than standardized tests, and she rejects growth
measures such as SGPs and Value - Added Models because
of the ever increasing research base that says they are unreliable and create poor incentives in education.
SAT scores and GPAs are important
measures of the academic abilities
of incoming prospective teachers, but they are only moderate predictors
of later teaching performance.13 Both teacher preparation programs and alternative certification programs are beginning to search for
other traits and dispositions that may be better predictors
of teachers» abilities to drive
student learning once in the classroom.
Other topics discussed this month included
Measures of Student Learning (MSL) exams, a Race to the Top update, and a review
of K - 3 Common Core standards.
In exchange, these states promised to implement rigorous new teacher evaluation systems that, among
other things, include
measures of student learning growth.
As seen in our theory
of action model, there is not only alignment among curriculum and instruction and assessment, but also a continuous feedback loop among the three, as each informs the
others to provide a valid and accurate
measure of student learning.
Many teachers and schools experimenting with personalized
learning also report early success with boosting
student and parent engagement, improving
student attendance, increasing teacher retention, and
other measures of progress.
«Given the lack
of broad - based stakeholder input into the waiver, the unrealistic timelines for implementing the teacher evaluation system under the waiver, the lack
of research - based support for evaluating teachers based on
student performance on state tests, and the dearth
of vetted alternative
measures of student learning available to use for teachers
other than those teaching grades 5 - 9 reading and math, we recommend the Legislature delay taking action to implement the waiver's teacher evaluation system requirements, and urge the commissioner to continue to negotiate for more flexibility in the waiver regarding the teacher evaluation requirements, as well as to seek an extension from USDE regarding the timeline under which to implement the new system,» Eaton testified.
Using «Multiple
Measures» Does Not Reduce Testing: Combining standardized test scores with other kinds of information in teacher evaluation systems — known as the «multiple measures» strategy — does nothing to reduce the disruption testing brings to school routines and student l
Measures» Does Not Reduce Testing: Combining standardized test scores with
other kinds
of information in teacher evaluation systems — known as the «multiple
measures» strategy — does nothing to reduce the disruption testing brings to school routines and student l
measures» strategy — does nothing to reduce the disruption testing brings to school routines and
student learning.
This might include sharing with practitioners honest information about imprecision and instability
of the
measures they receive, with instructions to use them cautiously, along with
other evidence that can help paint a more complete picture
of how
students are
learning in a teacher's classroom.
more clearly acknowledges that evidence
of student learning must extend beyond standardized test scores to include
other measures, such as demonstration
of growth over time, parental feedback, performance on formative assessments, and demonstrations
of engagement and self - efficacy; and
Drawing this conclusion, however, assumes that
student learning is
measured well by a given test, is influenced by the teacher alone, and is independent from the growth
of classmates and
other aspects
of the classroom context.
Control - treatment outcome comparisons reveal that
students at schools with an arts focus combined with arts integration programming scored higher than
other types
of student cohorts (non arts schools, conventional arts, and academic magnet schools) on both state academic achievement scores and arts integration
learning measures.