JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF RELEASING TEACHER TEST SCORES

[proud2BlibKansan]

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF RELEASING TEACHER TEST SCORES; DATA DUMP WOULD PROMOTE A FLAWED AND CYNICAL METHOD OF ACCOUNTABILITY
By Norm Scott
January 11, 2011

Would you gauge the effectiveness of individual doctors by the percentage of patients who live or die under their care? Should firemen be held accountable when a building burns down? Should individual soldiers in Afghanistan be compared to each other on the basis of “success” or “failure” in controlling the Taliban in a given area?

Any effort to do so would spark a major outcry. But when it comes to teaching, there is a different standard.

On Monday Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Kern ruled that the NYC Department of Education was obliged to release the names of individual teachers with “value-added” test score results that purport to measure teacher effectiveness. Judge Kern brushed aside arguments by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) that the release of unreliable data would unjustly harm teachers’ reputations writing “there is no requirement that data be reliable for it to be disclosed.”

The data dump will affect more than 12,000 classroom educators in Grades 4 to 8. The UFT is expected to appeal. There is some irony here as it was the UFT that signed off on the use of value-added in the first place after Joel Klein promised the results would not be made public, while many skeptical critics in the union raised questions about that deal and warned it would turn into a disaster for teachers.

more . . . http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-article-on-teacher-value-added-data.html

[fascisthunter]

1. In Our Political CLimate Today, I think this is Extremely Irresponsible

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. What about the teachers with no test score data?

I keep asking this question and no one has an answer.

[fascisthunter]

5. I DOn't Believe this is a Good Solution to Your Concern

I think it is irresponsible to publicly call out teachers regarding performance... it should be done in teacher parent meetings.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. You know I agree

My point is that only SOME teachers will be called out. For most we have no test data. So no one is going to want to teach those tested grades and subjects.

[fascisthunter]

8. I See Your Point

didn't mean to cast any asparagus on you.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. It's all good

Anyway, I like asparagus. :)

[bluestateguy]

3. we have gotten so far away from what the original intent of standardized testing was

You are now going to see more and more teachers teaching to the test so as to keep their jobs.

Innovative and creative teachers will have no place.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. And Arne Duncan wants even more testing

48 states have signed on to National Standards, and this will supposedly replace NCLB standards. But the new standards are linked to testing. Constant testing. You teach a skill and then test, then teach another skill and test. Several schools in my district are piloting this and they spend more time testing than teaching.

[Sabriel]

4. Expect to see the teacher attrition rate increase

It's getting to the point that even the love of teaching will no longer outweigh the shit and negative attitudes teachers have to endure.

[Reader Rabbit]

16. I'm beginning to think that this is what TPTB want.

New teachers are much less expensive, and much less likely to speak out against poor treatment and questionable practice.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. Ding ding ding

We have a winner.

[patrice]

9. If this can't be prevented, what you need is a MANDATORY critique of the critique or, better yet, a

mandatory ALTERNATIVE critique that tells the WHOLE story.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. We need someone to make a movie

[patrice]

15. That would certainly help.

[kctim]

10. I thought indiscriminate data dumps were good?

[eppur_se_muova]

11. The "value-added" standard is based on fundamentally flawed assumptions.

I guess this activist judge is concerned with more fundamental issues. :sarcasm:

[Celebration]

14. I'm just waiting for

imagery of crosshairs over the "failing" teachers.

[fatbuckel]

18. Isn`t that how it`s done?

"Would you gauge the effectiveness of individual doctors by the percentage of patients who live or die under their care? Should firemen be held accountable when a building burns down? Should individual soldiers in Afghanistan be compared to each other on the basis of “success” or “failure” in controlling the Taliban in a given area?"....not sure about the soldiers but.....