Lost In Citation
The so-called Vergara trial in California, in which the state’s tenure and layoff statutes were deemed unconstitutional, already has its first “spin-off,” this time in New York, where a newly-formed organization, the Partnership for Educational Justice (PEJ), is among the organizations and entities spearheading the effort.
Upon first visiting PEJ’s new website, I was immediately (and predictably) drawn to the “Research” tab. It contains five statements (which, I guess, PEJ would characterize as “facts”). Each argument is presented in the most accessible form possible, typically accompanied by one citation (or two at most). I assume that the presentation of evidence in the actual trial will be a lot more thorough than that offered on this webpage, which seems geared toward the public rather than the more extensive evidentiary requirements of the courtroom (also see Bruce Baker’scomments on many of these same issues surrounding the New York situation).
That said, I thought it might be useful to review the basic arguments and evidence PEJ presents, not really in the context of whether they will “work” in the lawsuit (a judgment I am unqualified to make), but rather because they’re very common, and also because it’s been my observation that advocates, on both “sides” of the education debate, tend to be fairly good at using data and research to describe problems and/or situations, yet sometimes fall a bit short when it comes to evidence-based discussions of what to do about them (including the essential task of acknowledging when the evidence is still undeveloped). PEJ’s five bullet points, discussed below, are pretty good examples of what I mean.
Teachers matter. This is an extremely commonplace talking point, one that is not particularly controversial (except in how it is measured). The evidence presented by PEJ boils down a rather large and complex literature to findings from a single paper, though an important one (which is discussed here). Nevertheless, fair enough – it’s an important starting point when talking about tenure/layoff reform. There is almost certainly a big difference between the most and least effective teachers.*
I would, however, hasten to add one critical point (besides the usual caveat that value-added estimates are just one measure of teacher performance). As we’ve discussed here many times, the issue is not whether teachers matter, but rather how policy can be used to shift the distribution of teacher effectiveness (however you measure it). This bullet point by PEJ does not speak to the latter aspect, and it’s the one that really matters, particularly for an Shanker Blog » Lost In Citation: