Apr 23 2007
Value Added: The New State Metric for Measuring Student Progress
In 001, the Governor’s Commission for Student Success introduced Senate Bill 1 allowing for new standards and testing in the state of Ohio. Shortly after, Battelle for Kids initialized Project SOAR with 4 school districts to pilot a new measurment metric called Value Added. Six years later, Ohio is in the final stages of adding this new metric to the state report card which goes live in 008. As a Regional Value Added Specialist (RVAS), I have been training district personnel or DVAS (District Value Added Specialists) on how to roll this program out in their districts. In the course of my trainings, I’ve met talented people from all over the state who are both excited and fearful about their role in beginning this new phase of accountability. While many see the benefits of measuring student progress, some wonder if this will expose problems with the current system that previously went unnoticed, especially in more affluent communities.
In short, Value Added takes a student’s score on the Ohio Achievement Test and measures that student’s growth from year to year. Ideally, the student is making a year’s worth of progress each year and the school district is adding value to that child’s education. This is welcome news to districts who have traditionally fallen short with achievement measures alone. It allows teachers, who many times receive students at below grade level, the opportunity to show progress with that student even if they don’t reach the proficient mark.
The research from the Coleman Report of the late 1960’s and others has shown that the greatest impact on student achievement is the teacher. The Teacher Effect has not been adequately measured in previous years with achievement tests alone, but Value Added allows us the ability to more closely look at a teacher’s impact on an individual student’s performance. Currently, Battelle for Kids is piloting their TCAP (Teachers Connecting with Achievement and Progress) program which allows students to be more closely aligned with the teacher and accounts more accurately for student mobility and time spent with other teachers.
As Value Added is introduced to the general public, my guess is that their will be confusion about what this all means and how they should view the results. The first set of unofficial value added scores came out last fall and sent many school administrators reeling. Many of the scores I’ve seen across the state indicate that we are teaching to the middle populations and not offering enough enrichment for the highest performing students or enough support for our lowest achieving students. I believe that Value Added will force us to reevaluate the way we instruct our students in much the same way standardized tests did several years ago.
As I approach the last day of training with my DVAS this year, one of the topics we will discuss is how to handle the “sticky issues” (those touchy items or questions) we will be forced to deal with when dealing with the general public. How will educators deal with the new issues that will be raised as the first set of Value Added results hit the state report card? How do we handle the inherent problems that might arise from the Teacher Effect? Will Value Added have the impact that it has had in Tennessee (where Value Added has been part of their accountability system since the early 1990s) and the impact that Dr. William Sanders (the architect behind the value added measurement) intended.
I welcome your thoughts.
8 Responses to “Value Added: The New State Metric for Measuring Student Progress”
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Dan
This is a very informative post. On another ideasuneashed sponsored site called Community Diaries http://www.communitydiaries.org, there is a heated discussion evolving around the proposed laptop initiative for the Oberlin Schools. The laptop will enhance two additional curriculum changes namely Universal Design for Learning and an International Baccalaureate Program (IB). In the roll-out of the new vision, there has been no mention of the required Value Added Project and its impact on teaching in this economically challenged district. I would appreciate your thoughts on the impact the Value Added Program will have on the already heavy loaded professional development required for a laptop, UDL and IB. Is it too much for for one district given this critical addition to the State evaluation requirements. Your thoughts are most welcome to post both here and on the communitydiaries site.
John,
I don’t believe Value Added will be an additional burden to an already heavy load that most teachers and districts have to carry. I see Value Added as a positive, especially for a district like Oberlin which finds itself in Continuous Improvement and may always have difficulty reaching a high achievement status in relation to the current state accountability system. Value Added allows for even low achieving districts to show significant progress with their student population even if they don’t reach proficient status. As a teacher in this district, I would welcome a measurement tool that demonstrates that I am having a significant impact on my students even knowing that they may come to my classroom at below grade level and may not reach the proficient level at the end of the school year. Teachers Unions in the state of Ohio have offered their support for this metric and will continue to support it so long as the results are not used in a punitive way with teachers who are not showing positive impacts on their students.
Accountability is a good thing and when you have accurate tools to more closely measure a district’s impact on student learning, I believe it’s a win-win situation for all involved.
Thanks Dan. That is very helpful information. On the community diaries site http://www.communitydiaries.org Ann Glass anwered the question in the same way. It seems like a great program and worthy of support.
A few months ago, I had the great good fortune to attend a meeting sponsored by Philanthropy Roundtable that addressed the crisis in Science and Math education in K-12 environments. http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/content.asp?contentid=524
I took notes from the opening speech, delivered by Dr. John Hennessey, President of Stanford University. I am not sure how his remarks related to value added, but I think there is something there….
I share them with your for your thoughts and comments.
Philanthropy Roundtable “Quantum Leaps – Improving Math and Scienceâ€
San Francisco, California
Opening Speech
Dr. John Hennessy, President of Stanford University
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/president/biography/
Dr. Hennesey referenced the book Rising Above the Gathering Storm, published by the National Academies http://www7.nationalacademies.org/gatheringstorm/ Dr. Hennessy referenced that report stating that the biggest challenge to American Education is improving the quality of science and technology teaching and preparing young people for the challenges that these disciplines invite in College, Graduate School and eventually for the American business sector..
The current situation is increasingly dangerous because of the decreasing number of engineering, science and mathematics degrees awarded each year to men and women who are U.S. citizens. The majority are now awarded to students from overseas who return to their native countries, such as China, Southeast Asia and India. The number of women and minorities represented in these fields is untolerably small.
Most universities with admit that over all American young people are not prepared for college and university work in mathematics and science. Calculus and physics, once optional in the high school curriculum, are now essential for those who are even remotely interested in technology, engineering, physics or business.
For most students entering colleges and universities, basic proficiency in all subjects continues to decrease in general. The most alarming drops are in math and sciences. Research has shown that teacher quality and preparation in the field is the most important predictor of quality teaching and learning. Students with Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high schools generally compete well due to the extra level of rigor that the AP requires. The AP also requires a minimal training for teachers to know their subject.
The majority of teachers in public schools are under-qualified to teach because they do not hold a degree with a major in the subject area.
Another truly alarming fact is the number of students requiring remediation not only in science and math, but in English and reading. This fact is reported in the work of Dr. Spellings, Chair of the Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/hiedfuture/reports/final-report.pdf
Graduation rates remain surprisingly low among students who enter college ill prepared for higher education. Those who successfully complete degrees in math and science to not opt to pursue careers in public education.
The challenge for K-12 education in the years ahead will be:
• recruiting math and science teachers
• providing intensive continung education for existing teachers
• opening opportunities to bring teachers into colleges
The government should explore the following policy iniatives:
• embark on a loan forgiveness program for those who complete college in science and math and enter the teaching profession.
• integrate new and innovative ways to present math and sciences into pedagogy using creative and enhanced web-based platforms.
Teachers on the K-12 level must be encourages to underscore the importance of group learning. They must integrate blogging into classroom teaching and enhance online learning. Science and engineering require group thinking and learning which is discouraged in current K-12 environments.
Finally, there is a need to establish a National framework for Science and Math education. The tradition of local (State) control in the US is entrenched and presents and enormous struggles for those who attempt the undertake it. But this is exactly where philanthropy has a role in the years ahead. We must find new and creative ways to address this critical failure to provide American K-12 students with the most fundamental exposure to Science and Math.
Do you two teach or just try to philosophies about how to make education better? Do you think India or China are forcing schools to teach the same curriculum to students with IQ’s of 55 as well as students with 130? Those countries don’t waste their time on the lower kids. They allow their high students to excel. America requires that all students Succeed while in return they make all students fail. The lower students tend to feel overwhelmed and give up. The High students get bored and loose interest in the subjects. You want to really allow America to excel and let our students obtain those scholarships in Math and Science? Let them go as far as they can. Let teachers push them to their limits. If teachers tried that to day 50% of the class would fail. If students can’t keep up then put them into a different class. We can’t do that though because the government says we have to teach certain topics.
As for the Standford President, when was the last time he stepped into a classroom for longer than a week? Yes students will give you their attention for a couple of days, maybe even a few weeks, but once they figure out they system most will try to challenge it.
Ryan,
I am not sure what you are getting at. Are you saying that we should have different curricula for students depending on ability? Who benefits from a “different class?” Are you certain that both India and China believe that attempting to reach all children, even “lower kids,” is a “waste of time?” Do you believe it to be a waste of time?
Yes I do think that trying to teach and reach the lower kids that don’t want to be in school and who’s parents don’t care about their child’s education is a waste of time. These actions and this great philosophy comes at the cost of holding back the advancements of the students that want to be at school.
As far as India and China, I wouldn’t say they think it is a waste of time but I think the kids fortunate enough to go to school come from fairly wealthy families who cherish education. Those who are not being educated are put to work, not forced to be in schools.
Dear Ryan
I do not teach at the present time, but I have taught in classrooms in the past. As I see it, the purpose of this site is to share ideas and invite conversation about teaching. There is a place for people to present ideas and invite comment about teaching. I have spent many years in the developing world, where public education is not readily available to the general population. One of the greatest things about the United States is the hope and belief that all Americans can and should have the right to a free education. I have lived in “developing” countries, where the wealthy pay for their children to go to private schools, (typically run by church affiliated groups), and the public education is non functioning. These are countries that sooner or later are wracked by political instability and unspeakable violence. Thomas Jefferson articulated the importance between education and liberty. For example:
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” –Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816. ME 14:384
There are several others that we could ponder.
“A system of general instruction, which shall reach every description of our citizens from the richest to the poorest, as it was the earliest, so will it be the latest of all the public concerns in which I shall permit myself to take an interest.” –Thomas Jefferson to Joseph C. Cabell, 1818. FE 10:102
“It is highly interesting to our country, and it is the duty of its functionaries, to provide that every citizen in it should receive an education proportioned to the condition and pursuits of his life.” –Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1814. ME 19:213
“The mass of our citizens may be divided into two classes — the laboring and the learned. The laboring will need the first grade of education to qualify them for their pursuits and duties; the learned will need it as a foundation for further acquirements.” –Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1814. ME 19:213
For more check out the link:http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1350.htm
Ryan, your comments lead me to believe you see the students at “Them” and a sense that they are lazy and out to get you. Wow. That cannot be a satisfying place for you to be in as a teacher. Do you have a place to talk with other teachers about your personal frustration with your own teaching?