Using value-added data to evaluate Tennessee teachers
To close the achievement gap between poor and affluent students in Tennessee, some students may need to learn at double the rate of their high-performing peers, according to Tennessee Department of Education materials.
But this goal could create a potential Catch-22 for teachers, who for the first time this year will be measured—and rated—on whether all of their students make large gains on standardized tests, as determined by the controversial statistical formula known among researchers as “value-added modeling.”
Millington Middle School teacher Kay Obenchain walks through her 7th grade enriched math class to check on students as they review for testing. Obenchain has been teaching full-time at the school for 8 years. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)