The Answer Sheet: teachers and value-added


Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011

Value-added assessment: Theory vs practice
By Valerie Strauss
Conflating the importance of teacher quality with the ability to measure it carries big risks, and can lead states, districts and the media to miss the trees for the forest.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:00 AM ET, 03/03/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Matthew Di Carlo, Teachers | Tags:  la times, la times teacher, los angeles times, los angeles times teachers, los angeles times teachers series, teacher assessment, teacher evaluation, teachers, teachers and value-added, teachers database, value added

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 11/17/2010

The sad story of an L.A. school labeled 'failing'
By Valerie Strauss
A teacher at a Los Angeles middle school writes about why her school was just declared to be "failing" and why the designation is patently unfair: "In today’s world of testing and sanctions, best efforts are irrelevant if scores do not increase at a fast enough rate."

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 11/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  failing schools, la schools, los angeles unified school district, public school choice, schools, teacher assessment, teachers, value-added measurement

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 08/23/2010

Willingham: 3 key factors in teacher evaluation (beyond the hype of value-added)
By Valerie Strauss
Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham looks beyond the hype of "value added" models for teacher evaluation and pinpoints three key factors that should be considered.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 AM ET, 08/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags:  daniel willingham, factors in teacher evaluation, how to evaluate teachers, no child left behind, teacher evaluation, teacher evaluation systems, teachers and value added, value added systems

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 08/05/2010

Accountability in DCPS: Details from teacher's IMPACT report
By Valerie Strauss
Aaron Pallas, an education and sociology professor and a statistician who critiqued DCPS's IMPACT teacher evaluation system last week, responds to critics of that post and looks at new data from a teacher's report as he argues that DCPS continues to publicly misrepresent IMPACT's evaluation methods.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 08/05/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  IMPACT and d.c., d.c. teacher evaluations, d.c. teachers, dc schools and teachers, how to evaluate teachers, value added evaluations

Posted at 10:30 AM ET, 07/28/2010

Were some D.C. teachers fired based on flawed calculations?
By Valerie Strauss
A professor of sociology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, argues that D.C. Public Schools botched the calculations that were used to decide to fire some of the 241 teachers let go last week.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:30 AM ET, 07/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  D.C. Schools, D.C. Schools | Tags:  DC CAS, IMPACT evaluation system, d.c. public schools and teachers, d.c. schools, d.c. teachers fired, how rhee fired teachers, rhee and d.c. and fire and teachers, rhee fires teachers, value added and teachers, why rhee fired teachers

Posted at 10:30 PM ET, 04/19/2010

Maryland’s big education mistake
By Valerie Strauss
Education officials in state after state are moving to contort their elementary and secondary school systems to align with the priorities of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to win some of the $3 billion being dangled by the Obama administration in its Race to the Top competition. It is especially unfortunate to Maryland, a state with a well-regarded education system, promote reforms that include some that have no basis in research--or in common sense.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:30 PM ET, 04/19/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Race to the Top, Race to the Top | Tags:  Duncan and Race to the Top, Maryland Race to the Top proposal, Maryland schools, Obama and Race to the Top, Obama and schools, Race to the Top, performance pay and teachers, teacher pay, teacher pay for performance, teachers, value added models