Another Destructive Idea Sweeps US: Judging Teachers by Student Test Scores
Mandated as a condition for states to receive federal Race to the Top (RTTT) funds, many states and districts are concocting schemes to “evaluate” their teachers in large part based on student test scores. These initiatives are inconsistent with strong evidence showing such uses of tests are error-prone and will undermine the quality of teaching and learning. Some states and districts are mandating dozens more exams, so that all teachers can be included in test-based evaluation plans.
Tennessee, which implemented the first so-called “value-added measurement” (VAM) system, based on a commercial norm-referenced test, decided to count student “achievement” as 50% of a teacher’s score, with 35% of the score based on VAM. Other states are proposing similar rigid weightings. More flexibly, a draft plan in Massachusetts requires student scores to be a significant part of the evaluation (echoing federal language), but would leave the details up to districts with state approval. However, Massachusetts also would require districts to judge every teacher by at least two tests, forcing the districts to buy commercial tests or make their own. In most cases the quality will be poor. Even young children, notoriously erratic test