Comments on: L.A. task force urges big changes in tenure, pay http://toped.svefoundation.org/2010/03/17/l-a-task-force-urges-big-changes-in-tenure-pay/ Analysis, opinion and ruminations on California education policy Wed, 30 May 2012 07:31:37 +0200 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Doug McRae http://toped.svefoundation.org/2010/03/17/l-a-task-force-urges-big-changes-in-tenure-pay/comment-page-1/#comment-7548 Doug McRae Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:52:03 +0000 http://educatedguess.org/blog/?p=1572#comment-7548 John: Re the oft cited rhetoric about creating complex new assessments and accountability systems that measure individual students' growth, as anticipated by the current federal initiatives, waiting for these to be created may well be a very long wait and in effect undermine any movement to use student achievement data for teacher evaluations. Test makers have been trying for almost 50 years to develop a solid basis for comparing student test scores in a longitudinal fashion, pretty much without success thus far, mainly due to changing content being measured from grade to grade. And if "complex" assessment is interpreted to mean more open-ended assessment formats to replace the current frequently demonized multiple-choice based assessments, it will increase testing time and testing cost manyfold to generate reliable change scores for high stakes purposes such as teacher evaluation. But, not to despair, using more-or-less current assessment systems that validly measure changes from year-to-year for differing cohorts of students, along with wise choices for accountability practices, it is possible to allow assessment data to contribute to (but not dominate) teacher evaluation decisions. The key will to use prudence in such use of testing data, and not to promise too much too soon. Doug McRae, Retired Test Publisher, Monterey, CA John: Re the oft cited rhetoric about creating complex new assessments and accountability systems that measure individual students’ growth, as anticipated by the current federal initiatives, waiting for these to be created may well be a very long wait and in effect undermine any movement to use student achievement data for teacher evaluations. Test makers have been trying for almost 50 years to develop a solid basis for comparing student test scores in a longitudinal fashion, pretty much without success thus far, mainly due to changing content being measured from grade to grade. And if “complex” assessment is interpreted to mean more open-ended assessment formats to replace the current frequently demonized multiple-choice based assessments, it will increase testing time and testing cost manyfold to generate reliable change scores for high stakes purposes such as teacher evaluation. But, not to despair, using more-or-less current assessment systems that validly measure changes from year-to-year for differing cohorts of students, along with wise choices for accountability practices, it is possible to allow assessment data to contribute to (but not dominate) teacher evaluation decisions. The key will to use prudence in such use of testing data, and not to promise too much too soon. Doug McRae, Retired Test Publisher, Monterey, CA

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]]> By: Judy Pinegar http://toped.svefoundation.org/2010/03/17/l-a-task-force-urges-big-changes-in-tenure-pay/comment-page-1/#comment-7533 Judy Pinegar Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:23:15 +0000 http://educatedguess.org/blog/?p=1572#comment-7533 Great news, wonderful changes, if they are followed through on! Great news, wonderful changes, if they are followed through on!

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