Reform of and by the System: A Case Study of a State’s Effort at Curricular and Systemic Reform (click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) by Phillip A. Cusick, Michigan State University and Jennifer Borman, Brown University Briefing It has oft been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and such is surely the case with much education reform legislation. Dissatisfied with the quality of student … Read More
The Real Value of Teachers: Using New Information about Teacher Effectiveness to Close the Achievement Gap” (click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Kevin Carey Thinking K-16, Vol. 8, Issue 1, Winter 2004. Briefing If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Tennessee’s Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS) has been widely hailed as the nation’s best. It should be maintained if not expanded. Created in the early 1990s, the TVAAS … Read More
(click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By David N. Figlio, University of Florida and Maurice E. Lucas, Alachua County Schools Education Next, Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring 2004. p. 60-68. Briefing This study found that students taught by tough-grading teachers learn more in school. Unfortunately, it also found that parents have a more favorable view of teachers who are easy-graders. Author David N. Figlio is a professor of economics … Read More
To Build a Better Teacher: The Emergence of a Competitive Education Industry (click here for full article) (click here to download a PDF of this article) By Robert Gray Holland Senior Fellow, Lexington Institute Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003 Briefing Most education professors have a vision of education that differs radically from that of the primary consumers of public education. While clear majorities of parents, teachers, and civic leaders want K-12 schools to ensure basic skills — … Read More
In Tennessee and several other states, teacher effectiveness can be assessed on the basis of annual student achievement gains. Although there are exceptions like the reports that were undertaken by the Los Angeles Times, value added data by levels of teacher performance within school districts is rarely available to the public. That said, even district averages are of value in assessing the quality of teacher hiring, retention, and oversight As can be seen in the charts below, there are substantial differences between … Read More
How Effective are Tennessee’s Teacher Preparation Programs? Tennessee’s Value Added Assessment System has been in place since 1995. It enables users to estimate the success of teachers, schools, and districts in lifting student achievement and it does so in a way that permits statistically fair comparisons. Since 2007, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission has published a report card that uses the TVAAS data to estimate success of Tennessee’s teacher preparation programs in graduating “highly effective” new teachers. Highly … Read More
Teaching is a highly trained and regulated profession; yet despite all of its rules, standards, enforcement agencies and oversight bodies, the performance of many practicing teachers is so poor as to be detrimental to students. The reason is that the evaluative process is largely controlled by the profession to suit its own standards—not those of the parents and taxpayers that it serves. One effect of this self-regulated process is that the public’s priorities are not necessarily those of … Read More
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations Used in Tennessee’s Value-Added Assessment Reports 3-Year-Average NCE Gain The average academic gain of the most recent 3 years expressed as an NCE (normal curve equivalent) score. These scores represent the average number of NCE points by which a school exceeds or falls short of the student achievement growth that occurred statewide in 1998-the benchmark year, a.k.a., the Growth Standard. These are the scores on which the Value-Added Achievement Awards are based. … Read More
The Value-Added Achievement Awards and School Performance Charts Introduction Every citizen has a stake in school quality, especially parents. The purpose of these awards is to make school quality visible to all and to give those who are responsible for producing it the recognition they deserve. All states collect, analyze, and report mountains of school performance data. However, most of this information is not easily accessed or understood by non-educators. Our aim is to strengthen the public’s … Read More
Past Winners of the Value-Added Achievement Awards 2014 Elementary Schools Beth Roeder, Andersonville Elementary Visit website Click here for Beth Roeder’s Recipe for Success Teresa Leonard, Boones Creek Elementary Visit website Click here for Teresa Leonard’s recipe for success Renee Bernard, McPheeter’s Bend Elementary Visit website Click here for Renee Bernard’s Recipe for Success Tammy Hoover, Baxter Elementary Visit website Click here for Tammy Hoover’s Recipe for Success Joe Thompson, Black Fox Elementary Click here for Joe Thompson’s … Read More