Measuring Teacher Effectiveness - DataQualityCampaign.Org - 0 views
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George Bradford on 14 Feb 12Measuring Teacher Effectiveness Significant State Data Capacity is Required to Measure and Improve Teacher Effectiveness States Increasingly Focus on Improving Teacher Effectiveness: There is significant activity at the local, state, and federal levels to measure and improve teacher effectiveness, with an unprecedented focus on the use of student achievement as a primary indicator of effectiveness. > 23 states require that teacher evaluations include evidence of student learning in the form of student growth and/or value-added data (NCTQ, 2011). > 17 states and DC have adopted legislation or regulations that specifically require student achievement and/or student growth to "significantly" inform or be the primary criterion in teacher evaluations(NCTQ, 2011). States Need Significant Data Capacity to Do This Work: These policy changes have significant data implications. > The linchpin of all these efforts is that states must reliably link students and teachers in ways that capture the complex connections that exist in schools. > If such data is to be used for high stakes decisions-such as hiring, firing, and tenure-it must be accepted as valid, reliable, and fair. > Teacher effectiveness data can be leveraged to target professional development, inform staffing assignments, tailor classroom instruction, reflect on practice, support research, and otherwise support teachers. Federal Policies Are Accelerating State and Local Efforts: Federal policies increasingly support states' efforts to use student achievement data to measure teacher effectiveness. > Various competitive grant funds, including the Race to the Top grants and the Teacher Incentive Fund, require states to implement teacher and principal evaluation systems that take student data into account. > States applying for NCLB waivers, including the 11 that submitted requests in November 2011, must commit to implementing teacher and principal evaluation and support systems. > P