In addition, the principal must demonstrate that she and her staff are conducting high quality observations that fairly and accurately reflect teaching performance and that teachers are using high
quality measures of student achievement in the form of SGOs.
Not exact matches
While opponents
of student testing often seem to have the biggest megaphone, polls show an overwhelming majority — 70 percent and up —
of parents think tests are a valid
measure of their child's
achievement level and the
quality of schools.
IMPACT's features are broadly consistent with emerging best - practice design principles informed by the
Measures of Effective Teaching project, and are intended to drive improvements in teacher
quality and
student achievement (see «Capturing the Dimensions
of Effective Teaching,» features, Fall 2012).
Equally important are school / university partnerships and the coming together
of like - minded researchers and classroom teachers who recognize the fertile opportunity to research,
measure, and disseminate findings in Mind, Brain, and Education Science to enhance teacher
quality,
student achievement, and professional satisfaction.
Kamras: A
quality teacher, in my view, is someone who: 1) knows his / her subject matter with great proficiency; 2) has the demonstrated capacity — as
measured by quantifiable
student achievement — to share that knowledge with children; 3) holds all children, regardless
of background, to the highest
of standards
of excellence; 4) leads by taking full responsibility for his / her
students»
achievement; and 5) inspires
students to pursue dreams they never imagined.
Moreover, it is a direct
measure of what policymakers want in teacher
quality, not a proxy for
student achievement fashioned by education's internal stakeholders.
And if the underlying
measure of student achievement in these studies was standardized tests, as was surely the case in many
of them, why are such tests acceptable as
measures of teacher
quality in studies that are meta - analyzed and used indirectly, but unacceptable when they are used directly to assess teacher
quality in a structured research design?
However, recall that the principals» survey responses allowed us to construct separate
measures of two distinct aspects
of teacher
quality: the ability to improve
student achievement and the ability to provide an enjoyable classroom experience for
students.
This interpretation
of the law requires a minimum
of 8 different indicators (math
achievement scores, reading
achievement scores, another academic indicator, and a school
quality or
student success indicator, plus participation rate for each
of these four
measures).
Tilles raises legitimate concerns about the use
of these tests — the
quality of the tests, their snapshot nature, the unintended consequences
of their being high stakes — but seems to forget that 20 %
of the teacher score comes from «locally - selected
measures of student achievement» and that 60 %
of evaluation is based on «other
measures.»
According to the National Council on Teacher
Quality (NCTQ), the number
of states requiring objective
measures of student achievement to be included in teacher evaluations nearly tripled from 2009 to 2015, from 15 to 43 states nationwide (see Figure 1).
Therefore, a single score, taken alone, can not provide a comprehensive
measure of the
achievement of a
student, and it certainly is not sufficient to judge the
quality of a school or an educational system.
I'm going to focus on the final two posts, in which Greene argues that
student achievement tests are poor proxies for school
quality and that they're not correlated with other
measures of quality.
The framework provides a holistic assessment
of school performance based on
student growth and
achievement in grades 3 — 8; school climate
measures, including attendance and re-enrollment; and preschool classroom
quality.
Advocates argue that the use
of VA
measures in decisions regarding teacher selection, retraining, and dismissal will boost
student achievement, while critics contend that the
measures are a poor indicator
of teacher
quality and should play little if any role in high - stakes decisions.
The
quality of the teachers in our schools is paramount: no other
measured aspect
of schools is nearly as important in determining
student achievement.
Nevertheless, critics continue to question the NBPTS's method and focus for
measuring quality teaching and to call instead for what they believe should be simple and direct
measures of effects on
student achievement.
As noted above,
student achievement, which provides a direct
measure of later
quality of the labor force, is strongly related to economic growth.
While quantitative input
measures show little impact, several
measures of institutional structures and
of the
quality of the teaching force can account for significant portions
of the immense international differences in the level and equity
of student achievement.
Lousiana, once near the bottom nationwide on
measures of student achievement, is now leading the way after adopting high -
quality and coherent ELA...
Student achievement remains a far more robust
measure of teacher
quality than many others available.
Annually
measures, for all
students and separately for each subgroup
of students, the following indicators: Academic
achievement (which, for high schools, may include a
measure of student growth, at the State's discretion); for elementary and middle schools, a
measure of student growth, if determined appropriate by the State, or another valid and reliable statewide academic indicator; for high schools, the four - year adjusted cohort graduation rate and, at the State's discretion, the extended - year adjusted cohort graduation rate; progress in achieving English language proficiency for English learners; and at least one valid, reliable, comparable, statewide indicator
of school
quality or
student success; and
The
measures of teacher
quality that are used by most public school systems to screen candidates and determine compensation — certification, experience, and education level — have been well researched, but there is little definitive empirical evidence that these characteristics, defined in general terms, are associated with higher
student achievement.
Given the strong influence
of out -
of - school factors on
student achievement, any
quality measure based on the level
of student performance at a single point in time will be heavily influenced by characteristics
of a school's
student body.
Under the NCLB Extended approach, embraced by many on the education reform / civil rights Left,
achievement would continue to be
measured by proficiency rates alone (with rising annual goals for what is good enough); growth data would be used sparingly and / or focused on «growth to proficiency»; «other indicators
of student success or school
quality» would be minimized; and evidence
of achievement gaps would sink schools» ratings significantly.
The Scholars» Paradise model would use «scale scores» or a «performance index» for the «academic
achievement» indicator;
measure growth using a two - step value - added metric; pick robust «indicators
of student success or school
quality,» such as chronic absenteeism; and make value added count the most in a school's final score.
A report out this week from the National Council on Teacher
Quality (NCTQ) found that California is just one
of five states that has no formal policy requiring that teacher evaluations be tied in some way to
student achievement measures.
Since the provision didn't require the use
of student test data in
measuring teacher
quality (focusing instead on certification and other qualifications that have no positive correlation to
student achievement), it should be removed from the law.
For the first time in the history
of American public education, federal education policy set clear goals for improving
student achievement in reading and mathematics, and finally focused attention on using data in
measuring teacher
quality.
This study found that
students whose teachers crafted high
quality SLOs outperformed their peers and showed significantly greater gain on two independent
measures of student achievement at all three school levels during all years under study.
Standardized test results have been the defining
measure of student achievement and school
quality under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Their findings described VAM as an imprecise and unstable
measure of teacher effectiveness, particularly if the
student assessment data are not
of high
quality or do not cover a sufficient number
of years from which to predict
student achievement with any degree
of accuracy.
These include: · Use
of instructional programs and curricula that support state and district standards and
of high
quality testing systems that accurately
measure achievement of the standards through a variety
of measurement techniques · Professional development to prepare all teachers to teach to the standards · Commitment to providing remedial help to children who need it and sufficient resources for schools to meet the standards · Better communication to school staff,
students, parents and the community about the content, purposes and consequences
of standards · Alignment
of standards, assessment and curricula, coupled with appropriate incentives for
students and schools that meet the standards In the unlikely event that all
of these efforts, including a change in school leadership, fail over a 3 - year period to «turn the school around,» drastic action is required.
For example, NAEP scores are
measures of the overall
achievement level
of students and not necessarily an accurate reflection
of the
quality of each state's school system, yet they were used as the sole
measure of academic
achievement.
At the very least, the concept is an interesting approach to
measuring the
quality of schools — and could provide the kind
of information families need to know what schools look like as well as how well they do in improving
student achievement.
Although it may seem as though having more assessments will mean we are more accurately estimating
student achievement, the use
of multiple
measures does not, by itself, translate into high -
quality evidence.
Additional
measures that have a critical impact on
student achievement are reported only (not included in schools» ratings) such as access to
quality state - funded preschool; half - day vs. full - day kindergarten; the percentage
of first - year teachers; teacher turnover; teachers with certifications in their specialized area; career counselors / coaches; out -
of - school suspensions; and whole child supports such as access to a school - based counselor or mental health services provider; nurse or health services provider; librarian / media specialist; and a family resource / youth service center.
ASCD has long promoted a whole child approach to education, and we are pleased that Congress has recognized the value
of this approach by broadening the range
of indicators states are required to use to
measure student achievement and school
quality.
According to a report from the National Council on Teacher
Quality, 30 states require that teacher evaluations include some
measure of student achievement.
A 2012 article titled «Physical Activity Strategies for Improved Cognition: The mind / body connection,» referenced a study on Australian elementary
students that found «across age and sex, academic ratings were significantly correlated with
measures of physical activity» and that «it can be concluded that daily
quality physical education appears to increase the rate
of learning and is positively related to academic
achievement.»
Earlier studies released by the MET project had examined three potential
measures of teacher
quality: observations
of teachers keyed to teaching frameworks, surveys
of students» perceptions
of their teachers, and a value - added method, which attempts to isolate teachers» contributions to their
students» academic
achievement.
Using multiple
measures, instead
of just test scores, to determine an education endeavor's success can lead to enhanced
student performance, better decision making, and a more comprehensive view
of school
quality and
student achievement.
Previous work shows that higher levels
of education
quality (as
measured by international
student achievement tests) increases growth rates
of national income.
This is a cornerstone
of both Race to the Top and ESEA waivers, which require evaluation
measures to be «closely related to increasing
student academic
achievement and school performance and... implemented in a consistent and high -
quality manner across schools.»
This brief considers any indicator to be an indicator
of school
quality or
student success if it does not
measure: academic
achievement or
student - level growth on state assessments in all academic subjects — see the «Indicator analysis» section for more; four -, five -, six -, or seven - year graduation rates; or ELP.
The bipartisan Every
Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA) ushered in a new way to improve K - 12 schools.1 ESSA promised states the opportunity to create more holistic school classification systems using new measures of school quality or student success — without losing sight of academic achie
Student Succeeds Act
of 2015 (ESSA) ushered in a new way to improve K - 12 schools.1 ESSA promised states the opportunity to create more holistic school classification systems using new
measures of school
quality or
student success — without losing sight of academic achie
student success — without losing sight
of academic
achievement.
Twenty - eight states now require annual teacher evaluations, compared with just 15 in 2009, and the number
of states requiring
student achievement measures as part
of teacher evaluations has soared from 15 to 41 over the past four years, according to the National Council on Teacher
Quality.
The hearing's panel
of experts — including New Mexico's Secretary
of Education - designate Hanna Skandera; Miami - Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho; and Bel Air, Md., elementary school principal Blaine Hawley — decried NCLB's one - size - fits - all approach and urged the committee to consider multiple
measures of student achievement and school
quality.
That site reviews can't
measure quality of teaching, the most - critical component in how schools improve
student achievement, also makes the proposal unready for prime time.
The key priority for ASCD and its members in 2014 is to promote multimetric accountability so that standardized test scores are not the sole
measure of student achievement, educator effectiveness, or school
quality.