In Value-added isn't evil Dave quotes some of a recent opinion piece and then writes:
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I have to admit that I'm puzzled by people who argue that we shouldn't use a value-added analysis as part of teacher evaluations in favor of the system we currently have where nearly everyone gets an above average rating. How can they argue that our current system is better? Not only doesn't it serve students well because it does little to try to remove poor-quality teachers, but it doesn't serve teachers well either. Excellent teachers receive the same rating as ineffective teachers. For the ineffective teachers, it does nothing to inform them of how they compare to their peers and to suggest that they should review their teaching practices in order to better serve their students.
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I remember reading that one study concluded that if the worse ten percent of the teachers were laid off that there would be huge improvements in public schools. Bad teachers are a huge drain on money and moral. It can take years for students to recover from being taught poorly or even worse the wrong information.
2 comments:
"Value-added isn't evil" only if it actually results in bad teachers being removed from the system.
The evil isn't in the evaluation process. The problem lies in that fact that under the current system, even after it is found that a teacher (especially a tenured teacher) is truly bad...like a teacher that makes sexual advances toward a student, or hits a student, it takes up to 5 years and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to actually remove that teacher. CASE IN POINT
Evaluations that do not result in the dismissal of bad teachers are completely pointless. THAT'S what's evil about "value-added". The real reason the system currently rates all teachers as above average, is because the system wouldn't do anything about teachers who were rated poorly anyway. So why bother?!?!
Just my .02!
Linda
You make a great point. Until we have a speedy and quick process for getting rid of bad teachers government schools will continue to provide a horrible education.
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