Alternative student growth measures for teacher evaluation: Profiles of early‑adopting districts

Title:	Alternative student growth measures for teacher evaluation: Profiles of early‑adopting districts
Description:	States and districts are beginning to use student achievement growth — as measured by state assessments (often using statistical techniques known as value-added models or student growth models) — as part of their teacher evaluation systems. But this approach has limited application in most states, because their assessments are typically administered only in grades 3–8 and only in math and reading. In response, some districts have turned to alternative measures of student growth. These alternative measures include alternative assessment-based value-added models (VAMs) that use the results of end-of-course assessments or commercially available tests in statistical models, and student learning objectives (SLOs), which are determined by individual teachers, approved by principals, and used in evaluations that do not involve sophisticated statistical modeling. For this report, administrators in eight districts that were early adopters of alternative measures of student growth were interviewed about how they used these measures to evaluate teacher performance. Key findings from the study are: Districts using SLOs chose them as a teacher-guided method of assessing student growth, while those using alternative assessment-based VAMs chose to take advantage of existing assessments. SLOs can be used for teacher evaluation in any grade or subject, but require substantial effort by teachers and principals, and ensuring consistency is challenging. In the four SLO districts, SLOs are required of all teachers across grades K–12, regardless of whether the teachers serve grades or subjects that include district-wide standardized tests. Alternative student assessments used by VAM districts differ by developer, alignment with specific courses, and coverage of grades and subjects. VAMs applied to end-of-course and commercial assessments create consistent districtwide measures but generally require technical support from an outside provider.
Online Availability:	Download, view and print the report as a pdf file. (234KB) Download, view and print the report summary as a pdf file. (102KB)
Cover Date:	April 2014
Web Release:	April 29, 2014
Print Release:	April 29, 2014
Publication #:	REL 2014016 General Ordering Information
Center/Program:	REL
Associated Centers:	NCEE
Authors:	Brian Gill, Brittany English, Joshua Furgeson, and Moira McCullough: Mathematica Policy Research
Type of Product:	What's Happening
Keywords:	Achievement (Student) Alternative Education States • state-level assessments
Questions:	For questions about the content of this What's Happening, please contact: Erin Pollard.