The NJDOE’s Excellent Educators for New Jersey pilot program has taken off, with 11 school districts helping to shape this new system of teacher evaluations. Its core principles include:
Evaluations based equally on both learning outcomes (including, but not limited to, standardized test scores) and effective practices (classroom performance)
Replacement of the “satisfactory/unsatisfactory” ratings with a four-tiered scale of “ineffective,” “partially effective,” “effective,” and “highly effective.”
Criteria favoring student progress rather than absolute performance for our highest-need students.
While I do believe that this program’s parameters are more meaningful, I think NJ can do better for its teachers and its students. I remain unconvinced that standardized test scores have any place in teacher evaluations. Generally speaking, the schools with the students who score in the highest percentages, advanced proficient and proficient scores, do not necessarily house the most “highly effective” teachers. It is generally true, however, that schools in which students score in the higher ranges on standardized tests, are located in districts in which there is a higher socio-economic class. These students usually produce higher scores on standardized tests. We could address this “class” issue by emphasizing individual progress, and giving students grade-level entrance and exit assessments for evidence of significant learning and skillful teaching. Such evaluations would indicate the amount of individual learning that has taken place that year -for each student, with his/her assigned teacher - measuring student and teacher progress from September to June.
What are some other suggestions for finding out if teachers are teaching and students are learning?
I think the best way to measure student performance and teacher effectiveness is through student portfolios. They show student work over a period of time, and by looking through portfolios, administrators can see specifically the kinds of assessments teachers used throughout the year and whether or not the students' work improved from September to June. (It also allows the student to see their progress, which is a motivational tool.) Standardized tests measure how students did on one day of the whole year and only measure them in one fashion. One day's worth of work is not a sufficient - anything could be happening in the student's life on that one day, causing them to do worse than they would if they had taken it the previous day or tomorrow. I particularly like that a portfolio will how the teacher's creativity. Principals see lesson plans, but that is very different from seeing the finished product. With a portfolio, administrators will see if the teacher is assigning the same kinds of assignments week after week, or if he or she is using creative writing prompts, labs, and projects.
ReplyDeleteI believe a way to evaluate students as well as effective teachers is to limit the amount of year by year comparisons. By this I mean stop judging the graduating class of 2012 to the class of 2011 to the class of 2013. We all know each class has different levels of achievement and different levels of learners. We need to get out of the mindset that comparing students year by year will be an effective means to evaluate what students learned and how well teachers teach.
ReplyDeleteInstead what should be done is to judge on how much each student has improved themselves from term to term. Judge both leaners and educators on did that student improve from the previous year or even better previous marking period and if so or if not why and by how much?
Get away from comparing apples to oranges and start comparing the student to the same student.
I think the best way to evaluate students and effective teachers is to have students fill out a questionnaire at the beginning of the unit of study, and again at the end of that unit (like after the test). The students should know that the questionnaire has no impact on their grade, but that the questions will help the teacher to be more effective in the future. The first questionnaire should include questions regarding learning styles and what they know on the subject, while the second should include questions about the types of learning styles incorporated in the lesson and what the students believe to have learned.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Matt in that students should be compared to themselves, not other students. An individual students growth may have improved greatly, while the class as a whole might not improve as greatly.
There is not only one way to evaluate students and effective teachers, and I believe each district should find a way that works for them.
To rate the effectiveness of a teacher, and the success of students based on one large standardized test seems short-sighted to me. For a unit of study that extends to 8 weeks, I would have the students complete short quizzes every other week, and one group project due at the end of the unit. The group project should culminate the main points and themes of our unit, by giving the students a chance to synthesize and evaluate what they have learned. I would use the quizzes as a means to evaluate whether or not the students are retaining the information. As teacher, I would guide them every step of the way in case they needed help putting together their final projects. Working on the final project gives the students a sense of ownership and forces them to buy in to what is being taught in our unit of study. The administration could see the final product and rate my effectiveness based on how the students learned what was taught, and how they used it to complete their projects.
ReplyDeleteI don't anticipate standardized tests going away anytime soon, particularily in this era where Americans are starting to feel left behind educationally. I believe that a portfolio, especially in the areas of writing, is the way to demonstrate true student progress.
ReplyDeleteAs Lisa points out, students from a lower socio-economic background do not perform as well in general on standard tests.I believe It take a special and talented teacher to teach the student who is come from a home struggling with poverty, or an absent parent(s). For some students the only balanced meal they are getting is school provided. With all these obstacles, success on a standardized test is difficult. Success in seeing a child's writing develop from a incomplete sentences and non-sequential phrases to a fluid paragraph or essay is truly a reflection of achievement on student, teacher and the school.
While I do understand that standardized tests provide somewhat of a baseline assessment of student achievement, I too am in favor of portfolios. I think they are an excellent source of assessment that truly demonstrates a student's achievement and progress throughout the year. I also believe the students benefit from seeing their body of work grow throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteIn the district in which I am student teaching, the grades will be "going live" next year. I think in addition to a portfolio, the immediate posting of grades creates a great deal of transparency for the teacher and parent regarding an individual student's progress. As a parent, I would find this type of insight invaluable to assessing my own children's progress.
I think the combination of portfolios and live grades would be very helpful to accurately assess a student's progress, or lack thereof, in a timely fashion. Quick identification of a problem leads to faster resolution as well.
Although their effectiveness can be reaffirmed through a dramatic increase in standardized test scores, I believe that teachers can also be judged based on their ongoing portfolio. I also think that these results are very dependent on the specific district as well. For example, the district that I am student teaching in has a significant population of Latin American students; a significant amount of which do not fluently speak English. In turn, our standardized test scores have plummeted in the last year or two. This actually has a direct correlation to the sudden influx of students being transferred into our school system from New Brunswick and Franklin township. On the contrary, it can also work in favor of a teacher who is in a more affluent district, where the scores are typically higher. Regardless of their individual effectiveness as a teacher, by the time these students are exiting the latter end of their secondary education, they are virtually scoring well on these exam through force-of-habit.
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