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Is The Teaching Profession so Black & White?
Teacher Assessments?
| “ I thought I was a good teacher and could not understand what was happening ” |
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Teacher Assessment - 5:
Teacher Assessment - 3:
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“[This is done] by comparing students with their own prior behaviour. So if a student comes from an inner-city family - dad’s not in the picture, mom’s on drugs - the assumption of value-added is that that (scenario) is a relative constant in this kid’s life.”
Felch argues that by looking purely at the relative progress made by pupils in successive exams, it is possible to strip out extraneous social factors, meaning that pupils - and teachers - can be compared on a like- with-like basis.
Using this measure of pupils’ relative progress, the Los Angeles Times rated the city’s elementary teachers on their effectiveness in teaching English and maths in terms of how much value they added - ie, whether pupils progressed more rapidly than would have been expected, based on their prior performance. Each teacher was classed as “least effective”, “less effective”, “average”, “more effective” or “most effective”.
As well as posting details about the calculations on its website, the Los Angeles Times also gave teachers the chance to raise their concerns.
“A lot of teachers felt maligned by the data,” Felch says. “One of the things I’m proud of is that we took those complaints seriously and allowed teachers to point out mistakes in the data and things that were unfair.”
He estimates that about 80 per cent of complaints were from teachers who simply thought they deserved a better rating; the remaining 20 per cent were legitimate grievances about errors in the data. As a result, some teachers’ scores were removed.
Teachers hit back
The comments that teachers posted next to their ratings offer an insight into the massive impact the project had on teachers’ lives. Some teachers offer reasons for their low scores, such as retirement, maternity leave or the fact that they didn’t actually teach the classes concerned. Others take the opportunity to express their pain and anger.
Angelica Barraza, a third-grade teacher at Hooper Avenue Elementary, writes: “I’ve seen the disheartening effect of your scoring system on excellent teachers that I have had the privilege of working alongside… One teacher in particular comes to mind. He’s the type of teacher who is first in and works through recess and lunch. A good teacher who was made to feel that his efforts as an educator were meaningless based only on test scores. ‘What more can I do?’ he asked as he reviewed the ratings himself, trying to figure out what led to his poor showing.”
Winnetka Avenue Elementary teacher Lilia Alzate - classed as “least effective” in English and maths - admits that she has been seriously affected. “Your publishing (of) these test scores (has) kept teachers awake at night, including myself. Could it also be that some who have suffered a degree of emotional instability may not have survived your ratings?”
Felch argues that by looking purely at the relative progress made by pupils in successive exams, it is possible to strip out extraneous social factors, meaning that pupils - and teachers - can be compared on a like- with-like basis.
Using this measure of pupils’ relative progress, the Los Angeles Times rated the city’s elementary teachers on their effectiveness in teaching English and maths in terms of how much value they added - ie, whether pupils progressed more rapidly than would have been expected, based on their prior performance. Each teacher was classed as “least effective”, “less effective”, “average”, “more effective” or “most effective”.
As well as posting details about the calculations on its website, the Los Angeles Times also gave teachers the chance to raise their concerns.
“A lot of teachers felt maligned by the data,” Felch says. “One of the things I’m proud of is that we took those complaints seriously and allowed teachers to point out mistakes in the data and things that were unfair.”
He estimates that about 80 per cent of complaints were from teachers who simply thought they deserved a better rating; the remaining 20 per cent were legitimate grievances about errors in the data. As a result, some teachers’ scores were removed.
Teachers hit back
The comments that teachers posted next to their ratings offer an insight into the massive impact the project had on teachers’ lives. Some teachers offer reasons for their low scores, such as retirement, maternity leave or the fact that they didn’t actually teach the classes concerned. Others take the opportunity to express their pain and anger.
Angelica Barraza, a third-grade teacher at Hooper Avenue Elementary, writes: “I’ve seen the disheartening effect of your scoring system on excellent teachers that I have had the privilege of working alongside… One teacher in particular comes to mind. He’s the type of teacher who is first in and works through recess and lunch. A good teacher who was made to feel that his efforts as an educator were meaningless based only on test scores. ‘What more can I do?’ he asked as he reviewed the ratings himself, trying to figure out what led to his poor showing.”
Winnetka Avenue Elementary teacher Lilia Alzate - classed as “least effective” in English and maths - admits that she has been seriously affected. “Your publishing (of) these test scores (has) kept teachers awake at night, including myself. Could it also be that some who have suffered a degree of emotional instability may not have survived your ratings?”