Teachers’ Licenses No Longer Jeopardized by THE Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS)
On Friday, April 12th, the Tennessee Board of Education met and rescinded much of the policy that ties teachers’ licenses to their value-added, as determined by the growth in their students’ performance on tests over time as calculated by the all-too-familiar Tennessee Education Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), and its all-too-familiar mother-ship the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS). This means that “teachers’ licenses can no longer be jeopardized by the changes in their students’ test.”
What a victory for teachers in Tennessee! Especially given the TVAAS has been in place in the state since 1993, and Tennessee is the state with the longest running history using value-added (thanks to education “value-added” creator William Sanders).
Although, again, it might be too soon to celebrate, as rumors have it that some of the other consequences tied to TVAAS output are still to be pushed forward. Rather, this might be viewed or interpreted as a symbolic gesture or compromise, to open up room for further compromising in the future.
Accordingly, David Sevier, the Tennessee State Board’s Deputy Executive Director also noted that the Board of Education can “now begin to find a measure that is comparable to Teachers’ Licenses No Longer Jeopardized by THE Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS)