New Models of Assessing Teachers’ Impact on Student Learning: Challenges and Opportunities

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
3:30-5:30 pm

 REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS FULL

Suffolk University Law School
120 Tremont Street
Boston, MA

Session Overview
The topic of evaluating teachers based on their students’ performance has sparked intense debate nationally and in Massachusetts. The Obama administration’s $4.3 billion “Race to the Top” fund required states to change their laws to eliminate any barriers to evaluating teachers based on their students’ academic performance. Massachusetts state laws already allow for student performance to be a component of a teacher’s evaluation and the Commonwealth has recently launched a new growth model that measures the growth of individual students’ performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) over time. The state is poised to use that information to develop a “value-added” assessment model which would analyze the contribution individual teachers have made to students’ achievement.

While value-added assessments offer the potential of identifying the impact of individual teachers on their students, critics worry about using standardized assessments designed to measure student outcomes to evaluate a teacher’s impact. And, value-added assessments are only applicable to teachers of subjects and grades tested by the MCAS, approximately 30% of all teachers. Considering the limits of value-added models for evaluating teacher performance, what are some viable alternatives?

Professor Susan Moore Johnson, a national expert on teacher evaluation, will present on the challenges and opportunities of connecting student achievement and teacher effectiveness. Next, Commissioner Mitchell Chester, from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, will describe the state’s plan for a new statewide teacher evaluation system. Panelists will provide a range of perspectives on ways to use student achievement to evaluate teacher performance. The forum will conclude with an opportunity for audience discussion.

Opening Presentations
• Susan Moore Johnson, Jerome T. Murphy Professor in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Mitchell Chester, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Panel Discussion
• Maria Fenwick, Boston Director, Teach Plus
• Adam Fischer, President, Boston Student Advisory Council
• Rebecca Iskric,  Teacher, Conservatory Lab Charter School, Boston, MA
• Kathleen Skinner, Director, Center for Education Policy and Practice, Massachusetts Teachers Association

Moderator
Charles Toulmin, Director of Policy, Nellie Mae Education Foundation

Discussion with Audience Members

 

This forum is part of the Rennie Center’s Challenging Conversations series, which is supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.