The LA Times recently wrote an article, Grading the Teachers: Who’s Teaching L.A.’s Kids?, about the need to rate teachers based on value-added scores. The article has caused quite a storm of controversy. As noted in the article:
Seeking to shed light on the problem, The Times obtained seven years of math and English test scores from the Los Angeles Unified School District and used the information to estimate the effectiveness of L.A. teachers — something the district could do but has not. The Times used a statistical approach known as value-added analysis, which rates teachers based on their students’ progress on standardized tests from year to year. Each student’s performance is compared with his or her own in past years, which largely controls for outside influences often blamed for academic failure: poverty, prior learning and other factors.
Many educators are against being rated based on standardized test scores. One reason cited is the flaws of standardized tests. However, the article did point out some interesting insights that shed light on educational myths. For example, the article found that based on this system, some of the most effective teachers were in the poorest districts and those that were rated as ineffective were in both poor and affluent schools. Rating teachers based on standardized tests scores seems to be on the agenda of many states. For this reason, it is important for all educational stakeholders to determine what they believe and write their policy makers who may support bills that would support measures to fire teachers based on standardized test scores.
That is why this past Wednesday on the #PTCHAT educators, parents, principals, and other stakeholders shared their reactions to teachers being rated by standardized test scores.
Image from Wordle.net
Parentella: Share your opinion about the L.A. Times article on teacher ratings and whether teachers should be rated.
MrDs_Nabe: I have two real concerns: professionalism and viability of the rating. Like an American Idol skit. What we do is not a popularity contest. Printing of scores reduces our status as a profession.
joe_bower: @Parentella my take on value added measurements and the LA Times http://j.mp/d40AM2
Katjewave: I’ve been giving very serious thought to leaving education (at least in LA) and I LOVE teaching, but the politics???? We need to get back to seeing children and NOT test scores! Children who love learning, become and stay learners
raysadad: @Parentella The best source of info on a child’s progress is simply asking the teacher.
JaneBalvanz: School’s a partnership-students, parents, educators, politicians, and the public. How do you divide this up and rate only 2 factors: kids and teachers?
2plus1Family: Have a kid in Gr 3? Our #mathmoments #podcast explains the ins and outs of standardized testing: http://ht.ly/2BuIn
Parentella was created to solve the issue of parent and educator communication at elementary, middle school and high school levels. As part of this mission, we are hosting weekly #PTCHAT discussions to encourage a productive dialogue between parents and educators. We hope you will join us Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST.
You may also want to join Parentella on Facebook to keep updated. We invite you to propose questions for upcoming topics. View the entire transcript here.
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