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Monday, March 5, 2012

Value-Added Evaluation Hurts Teaching | The Forum for Education and Democracy

Value-Added Evaluation Hurts Teaching | The Forum for Education and Democracy:

Value-Added Evaluation Hurts Teaching

By Linda Darling-Hammond

(Education Week, March 5, 2012)

Here's the hype: New York City's "worst teacher" was recently singled out and so labeled by the New York Post after the city's education department released value-added test-score ratings to the media for thousands of city teachers, identifying each by name.

The tabloid treatment didn't stop there. Reporters chased down teacher Pascale Mauclair, the subject of the "worst teacher" slam, bombarding her with questions about her lack of skill and commitment. They even went to her father's home and told him his daughter was among the worst teachers in the city.

Now the facts: Mauclair is an experienced and much-admired English-as-a-second-