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Thursday, April 6, 2017

Connecticut will no longer use SBAC and SAT as part of teacher performance evaluations. - Wait What?

Connecticut will no longer use SBAC and SAT as part of teacher performance evaluations. - Wait What?:

Connecticut will no longer use SBAC and SAT as part of teacher performance evaluations


As the CT Mirror reports,
The state Board of Education voted late Wednesday afternoon to adopt new usage standards for state mastery test data, explicitly prohibiting the use of those test scores in evaluating teacher performance.
[…]
State education board Chairman Allan B. Taylor and Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell both praised the board’s approval of the plan as an important clarification of the role state tests should play: a goal-setting tool for teachers, not part of a formula for rating an individual teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom.
While state mastery tests – which include the Smarter Balanced assessments, SAT, CMT and CAPT science – are no longer an option, school districts are still required to measure teachers in part on their students’ testing success, which makes up 22.5 percent of the teacher evaluation rating. Now, school districts will have to choose from a number of non-state exams to evaluate teachers in that category.
In a written response, the Connecticut Education Association posted;
This is a big victory for students, teachers, and public education,” said CEA President Sheila Cohen. “The voices and expertise of teachers were heard and addressed by policymakers who did the right thing by putting the focus back where it belongs: on teaching, learning, and student 
Connecticut will no longer use SBAC and SAT as part of teacher performance evaluations. - Wait What?: