{"id":4802,"date":"2012-02-16T14:02:43","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T19:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=4802"},"modified":"2012-04-09T13:59:17","modified_gmt":"2012-04-09T17:59:17","slug":"inside-the-mathematical-equation-for-teacher-merit-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/02\/16\/inside-the-mathematical-equation-for-teacher-merit-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Mathematical Equation for Teacher Merit Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miami Herald reporter Laura Isensee<\/a> contributed to this report. Read her story on Florida’s merit pay formula here.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

School has always been about grading students. But now 24 states\u00a0are starting to grade teachers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Florida is using a mathematical formula to calculate how well teachers are doing their jobs. The grade it spits out will help determine how much a teacher gets paid and whether that teacher can keep his or her job.<\/p>\n

But the formula is so complex even an advanced calculus teacher and former college math major can\u2019t understand how it works.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

CHARLES TRAINOR JR. \/ Miami Herald<\/p>

Advanced calculus high school teacher, Orlando Sarduy, writes out the formula that will grade and help determine the pay of Florida teachers. Even for a college math major like him, the formula is too confusing to understand. He calls it a "mathematical experiment."<\/p><\/div>\n

Coral Reef High School teacher\u00a0Orlando Sarduy says just reading the formula is difficult for him.<\/p>\n

StateImpact Florida and the Miami Herald<\/em> partnered up to deconstruct the equation and\u00a0try to figure out what’s going on here. We asked statisticians and policymakers how the formula works. The answer we got: No lay person, teacher or reporter can understand it. So just trust us.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI would really\u00a0challenge\u00a0any sort of decision maker to look at [the formula] and explain it,\u201d Sarduy said. \u201cI understand just the basics, but this is really the technical nitty-gritty of what\u2019s going on, and to me it looks the same as it would to a lay person, like \u2018what’s going on here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

How The Formula Works\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>The formula is designed to predict how students will score on the state’s standardized exam\u2014the FCAT. And then it adjusts teachers’ pay depending on how well their students measure up against that predicted score.<\/p>\n

The formula takes into account school and student characteristics that Florida officials say predict how well a student is going to do in school.<\/p>\n

\n

“I would really\u00a0challenge\u00a0any sort of decision maker to look at [the formula] and explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Orlando Sarduy, advanced calculus teacher<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n

Those officials decided there are only 10 factors that matter. They chose things like the number of students in a classroom, whether English is a student\u2019s first language,\u00a0attendance rates and disability status.<\/p>\n

The statisticians created a formula that gives each of the 10 factors a certain weight.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the statisticians and policymakers who created the formula explained it <\/a>to Miami Herald<\/em> education writer Laura Isensee.<\/p>\n

For example: If a student misses 5 days of school, the statisticians determine what the effect of missing 5 days of school will have on that student\u2019s standardized test score.<\/p>\n

The statisticians do this for each factor and every student. In the end, the formula predicts what a student\u2019s test score should be given all these factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that prediction will be the grading stick for the teacher,\u201d Isensee said. \u201cIf the student gets higher than the predicted score, the state thinks they must have a good teacher. If a student scores below the predicted score, then the teacher could be in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state has a list of all the different weights for all the factors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Isensee said, \u201cThe weights are all over the place, even for kids who seem to be in the same situation.\u201d

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