The error rates of test score-based teacher evaluations is "quite high" according to a new report. But the evaluation may still be better than traditional performance measures.
But evaluations based on test scores may still be more accurate, the study argues, than traditional reviews based on certifications, years experience or observations.
“More accurate measures of teacher effectiveness can lead to better decisions by school and district leaders,” the authors write. “But the actions we take based on those measures can have both beneficial and harmful consequences. Clearly, we need a better understanding of the consequences of different systems on teacher development, teacher collaboration, and the desirability of teaching as a profession.”
The standards set benchmarks for each grade level. And instead of learning a little bit about a lot of things, students will be expected to absorb a lot of information about fewer subjects.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett says Florida’s transition to Common Core is on schedule.
The Florida Department of Education even has an interactive readiness gauge online that measures each district’s progress toward meeting Common Core deadlines.
Q: Where do you think the state is right now in the transition to Common Core?
A: There hasn’t been a sufficient amount of training that’s been done to make sure that teachers understand what the new standards are and how to go about implementing them.
The assessments aren’t online yet in order to be able to have all the proof that we need. Continue Reading →
1st grade teacher Kim Cook posted this picture on Facebook after her unsatisfactory evaluation, and it went viral. Much of her evaluation was based on standardized test scores for students at another school.
One of the plaintiffs, Kim Cook, was the 2012 teacher of the year at Irby Elementary School in Alachua County.
“My evaluation for the 2011-12 school year was based on the FCAT reading scores of students in another grade in another school,” Cook said. “Specifically, 40 percent of my evaluation was based on the FCAT reading scores of 4th and 5th graders at Alachua Elementary.”
Cook expects to be evaluated the same way this year.
The agency based its request on a dated school district survey from 2011, and districts have upgraded their bandwidth and available computers since then. In addition, the groups designing new online standardized tests said school districts would need fewer computers or tablets than expected.
Instead of the $442 million the agency requested in the budget beginning July 1, agency staff now believes $100 million will be sufficient. Agency staff said they will ask for more money next year, and so were also spreading the initial request over two years.
“Our (Legislative Budget Request) was $400 and whatever million dollars and we’re now changing that to $100 million dollars,” said board member Kathleen Shanahan. “I understand new data and we correct stuff…but that is an egregious miss. And it’s embarrassing.”
Alabama, Kentucky and New York have gone their own way in designing tests for new Common Core State Standards.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett will update State Board of Education members today on Florida’s progress toward meeting 2014 deadlines for new standards and testing.
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett will update the State Board of Education on how much progress Florida districts have made toward meeting a 2014 deadline for new education standards.
Will Florida need a ‘Plan B’ test for new standards set to hit state schools in 2014? And if not, will school have the computers and bandwidth necessary for the online tests?
As the spring semester winds down around the country, one teacher, Gerald Conti, is not going quietly.
flickr / griffithchris
Gerald Conti's resignation letter is making waves with critics of the Common Core.
Conti is retiring from Westhill High School in Syracuse, NY at the end of this school year and his resignation letter has become a manifesto for critics of the Common Core.
In his letter — which he posted in full on Facebook — Conti laments that the push towards standardized testing and the Common Core has fundamentally changed teaching:
“STEM rules the day and “data driven” education seeks only conformity, standardization, testing and a zombie-like adherence to the shallow and generic Common Core, along with a lockstep of oversimplified so-called Essential Learnings. … My profession is being demeaned by a pervasive atmosphere of distrust, dictating that teachers cannot be permitted to develop and administer their own quizzes and tests (now titled as generic “assessments”) or grade their own students’ examinations.“
According to a profile of Conti from The Post Standard, the retiring teacher sent the letter in February, but it blew up on the web after he posted it to Facebook in March. More than 2,500 people have shared the letter since March 29th.
“For the last decade or so, I have had two signs hanging above the blackboard at the front of my classroom, they read, “Words Matter” and “Ideas Matter”. While I still believe these simple statements to be true, I don’t feel that those currently driving public education have any inkling of what they mean.“
What do you make of the letter? Leave us a note in the comments.
The Florida Legislature has approved a bill to create an online institute through one of the state universities. The Board of Governors will choose the university.
The Florida House has unanimously passed a bill to create an online-only institute at an existing Florida university.
“Florida is leading the charge on the digital revolution in higher education,” said House Speaker Will Weatherford. “We are taking the necessary steps to ensure our students will be ready to compete in the global marketplace.”
The bill requires the state’s top research university to create an institute for online education. It also sets requirements for daily operations and tuition.
Once the institute is in place, students will be able to enroll and complete a four-year undergraduate program without ever visiting the campus.
Sen. David Simmons offered one big change to the parent trigger bill. It gives school boards - not the Board of Education - the final say in how to turn around a failing school.
Senators said they changed a key provision in the session’s most controversial education bill on the advice of Education Commissioner Tony Bennett.
Thursday a Senate panel approved the Parent Empowerment in Education bill, better known as the parent trigger bill.
Members altered the bill to conform with the House version, which has already been approved by the full House.
But they also made one big change: The local school board would have the final say in how to revamp a failing school.
The original bill gave the final say to the State Board of Education if the district and parents didn’t agree on a school turnaround plan.
“With the school district being the final arbiter of this decision, it’s going to take the heat as to whatever decision it makes,” said Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs. “Hopefully, it will turn around that school.”
Bennett’s concern is that giving the Board of Education the final say “may let local school board members off the hook when it comes to respecting a parent’s role in the process.”
Hi, StateImpact Florida audience. I’m Sammy. Nice to meet you.
I’m thrilled to be the newest addition to the StateImpact Florida team—working closely with John O’Connor to bring you stories about the impact of education policies.
Sammy Mack is the Miami-based StateImpact reporter.
I’m based out of the WLRN – Miami Herald Newsroom, where I’ve been working as an editor and health care policy reporter for the past few years.
In a way, StateImpact Florida is a return for me. I’m a product of Florida education. I grew up in St. Petersburg. I’m a graduate of St. Petersburg Senior High School (go Green Devils!). I took the first FCAT. And before that, I sat for its predecessor, Florida Writes.
Fun side note: My first education assignment was to report on Tamagotchi policies in 1997. This was when I was a teen writer for the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times) Monday morning kids’ section. I got a notebook and monitored the halls of Seminole Middle School (where I was an 8th grader) for signs of the utterly annoying, oddly compelling digital pet craze that was allegedly sweeping the nation.
What I observed? “Day 1: No sightings. Day 2: An announcement was made that all virtual pets at school will be confiscated. No sightings. Day 3: No sightings.”
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
