Background for Teacher Centered Evaluations

- Background Information and Research
- Other articles, links and resources related to teacher evaluation)
- Problems with Value-Added models (VAM)

Background Information and Research

• Research by National Education Policy Center/University of Colorado showing the L.A. Times' reporting on teacher effectiveness as extremely flawed
  - Complete Policy | Two-page summary
  - Fact Sheet concerning the LA Times' response article of February 7
  - Fact Sheet concerning the LA Times' statements of February 14

• Letter from NEA,CTA, and UTLA to LA Times Editor (8/20/2010)

• McCaffrey Study (2009)

• Merit Pay Found to Have Little Effect on Achievement (9/21/2010)
  (Education Week)

• Briefing Paper: Problems with the Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers
  (Co-authored by education scholars convened by the Economic Policy Insttiute)
  

• Research brief: Use of student test scores to evaluate teachers
  (CTA Legislative Relations Department)

• Research brief: The Stability of Value-Added Measures of Teacher Quality and Implications for Teacher Compensation Policy
  (National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research)

• Letter from the National Academies to the Department of Education with a discussion of Race to the Top and Value Added Models

• Instructions to download full Letter Report from the National Academies

• What’s wrong with Value-Added Models and using standardized test scores to assess teacher effectiveness?
  (UTLA)

• Short video (3:49) highlighting some major problems with Value Added Measures
  "Merit Pay, Teacher Pay and Value Added measures"
  -Value added measures sound fair, but they are not. In this video Prof. Daniel Willingham describes six problems (some conceptual, some statistical) with evaluating teachers by comparing student achievement in the fall and in the spring.
  (Click on the arrow in the middle of the screen to begin video)

The following documents are what LAUSD has posted concering VAM

• Memorandum from Deputy Superintendent Dr. John Deasy
• LAUSD Strategy - Value Added Analysis
• A quick guide to LAUSD's plan to immediately institute VAM