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LEARNING LOSS IN TENNESSEE  [View/Download PDF]

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A K12 EDUCATION AGENDA WE SHOULD EMBRACE [View/Download PDF]

I am excited about the future of public education in Tennessee. Many critics like to point out some of the shortcomings of our system, and rightly so. A one size fits all system does not work for everyone. It never has, and never will. The system will continue to evolve, albeit slowly, and adjustments will always be needed. We should welcome debate on public education, which remains our greatest priority.

In order to attract and keep industries and business that we need for a global economy, we must build and develop a quality workforce. A quality education system ultimately provides economic mobility for all of our citizens. It is imperative that taxpayers understand that education is an investment for our state’s future, not merely an expense to bear. It is also a constitutional requirement in our state.

As a businessman, Governor-elect Bill Lee understands that higher salaries will encourage more people to join the teaching profession and hopefully entice current educators to remain in the field, resulting in better outcomes for Tennessee students. Lee has stated his three major priorities: 1) Getting our students ready to enter the workforce; 2) Strengthening the foundations of a quality system; and 3) Encouraging innovation. It is a K12 education agenda we should embrace.

Tennessee’s business community has expressed increased concerned about workforce development. In the future, people with solid, transferable skills that are open to continued learning will be critical for our workforce. To get our students ready for the workforce we must better link state and local efforts for economic development and job creation. This will also necessitate expanding post-secondary vocational training. Many occupations are developed through apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and vocational programs offered at community colleges. That does not always mean expensive, four-year degrees for which many students are not suited. In high school, Tennessee may want to consider giving students the option to use the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate examination, rather than the ACT/SAT in the 11th grade year.

Strengthening the foundations of our public-school system, begins with support for local control of public education. It is also critical to look at how we fund our schools. The methodology we use to fund our schools has constantly been litigated by school districts. These lawsuits prove we must incorporate and take into consideration the dramatically different cost of living and doing business in different counties across the state. We must update our school funding formula to reflect changing 21st century needs. At the state level we have to improve the teacher pipeline. This means we must identify and develop a community of well-trained, highly compensated educators who can flourish in the teaching profession. Any investment we make in education must be high quality, and position our children for success in the classroom, career and life. We have much work to do.

We need our new Governor, our new Commissioner and our new Tennessee General Assembly to listen to educators and continue to champion innovation in public education. Educators want that chance to be inventive, and they understand the need to challenge the status quo. The testing culture has killed the enthusiasm of many educators. Although we need testing to measure the progress of our students, we should recognize these tests are often unreliable in evaluating teachers and schools. We should pursue reliable standardized tests that provide accurate feedback for educators, parents, and students. No single test should be a determinant of a student’s, teacher’s or school’s success. True measurement of progress should instead consist of several benchmarks, not just testing.

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TESTING IS OPEN FOR DEBATE  [View/Download PDF]

In April, 2018, Professional Educators of Tennessee raised the issue on Testing, with a hard-hitting editorial called the Trouble with Testing. Now the Superintendents of two low performing districts, Shelby County and Metro-Nashville Public Schools are eliciting media attention by challenging testing across the state. Welcome to the club.

Testing has taken a wrong turn in public education. I have always tried to keep it simple: testing is like your school picture; it is what you look like on that particular day. Kids go in to take a test. Teachers show up to make sure kids are taking their own test. Parents encourage their children to do their best. However, like Ozzie & Harriet, Leave it to Beaver, and the Lone Ranger, those days are gone.

With an infusion of $501 million federal dollars of Race to the Top money we hurried to increase standards by adopting Common Core, which was soon corrected by moving back to state standards. We then increased testing, changing both format and frequency. Tennessee also adopted new evaluation methods. The teachers’ union supported the incorporation of TVAAS data into the state’s teacher evaluations, which landed Tennessee $501 million from the federal Race to the Top grant in 2010. Professional Educators of Tennessee did NOT support the use of that data on teacher evaluations, nor did they sign a support letter on the original grant submission.

Not everything Tennessee tried was damaging, but it is not debatable that, thus far, the Age of Accountability has failed students, teachers, parents and taxpayers. Since 2012, Tennessee has had one misstep after another in testing. In 2013, our tests were not aligned to our standards. In 2014, the issue was transparency, notably quick scores and test score waivers for final semester grades were the major issue. In 2015, the new TNReady online tests had issues in the post equating formula. In 2016, we fired the vendor, Measurement, Inc. because after the online platform was botched, they were unable to get out a paper version of the test. In 2017, we were again plagued by issues due to scoring discrepancies. This year 2018, had issues related to testing, including the belief by the testing vendor, Questar, that the Questar data center was under attack from an external source, although it is never thought that any student data was compromised.

At no point since 2012 were any of the testing issues the fault of students or educators. However, for educators, they are often the ones who bear the brunt, quite unfairly, of parental anger. Students also suffer, with everything from loss of instruction time to not understanding their educational progress. When we make education decisions on the basis of unreliable or invalid test results, we place students at risk and harm educators professionally. This is especially unfair to the hardworking teachers in our state. To policymakers and stakeholders alike we must ask these questions:

1. Why are we relying so heavily on test scores to make important educational decisions about students, teachers or schools, especially when the process is flawed? For example, when officials thought the Questar data center was under attack from an external source, there should have been no greater priority by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to identify and prosecute those individuals guilty of this activity and confirm that no student data was compromised. Fortunately, there was no attack.
2. Should we question the reliability, validity, and accuracy of testing in Tennessee since 2013? Especially when shifting between online to paper tests? Note: Reliability relates to the accuracy of their data. Reliability problems in education often arise when researchers overstate the importance of data drawn from too small or too restricted a sample. Validity refers to the essential truthfulness of a piece of data. By asserting validity, do the data actually measure or reflect what is claimed?

In Tennessee we appreciate straight talk and candor. We unquestionably detest hypocrisy. We understand mistakes are made by individuals, by companies and even by our government. We are not pointing fingers, just stating a fact. Clearly there is a problem with testing in Tennessee. It isn’t our students or our educators. It is a flawed testing system.

Shawn Joseph and Dorsey Hopkins timed the announcement of their joint press release well. A sitting group of mostly outgoing legislators were at the Capitol at the time to discuss education. It is also political season. Their joint letter will momentarily take the attention away from their own issues. However, we welcome the discussion. Unfortunately, simply offering the much-ballyhooed solution of another “blue ribbon” panel to discuss the testing issue is a mere diversion. For teachers, thank Race to the Top which was supported by the previous Superintendents of Shelby County and Metro-Nashville Public Schools and the teachers’ union. I wish both men had offered a solution. We will help you out- Eliminate TVAAS data from teacher evaluations. That would be an enormous leap forward.

Click Here to Download the Powerpoint Presentation

As flaws with the new assessments and vendors continue, our members continue to call on us to advocate for separating assessment results from their evaluations, which have an impact on their futures and careers. 

We look forward to working with the Tennessee Department of Education, policymakers and other education stakeholders to resolve ongoing issues.

The department conducts multiple data quality checks to ensure all assessment data is accurate and provides an embargo period for districts to closely review their data and report any concerns or questions to the department. During this embargo period, an error was discovered that Questar, our assessment vendor, investigated.

When the potential error was found, Questar did an extensive review of the tests in question and all other tests. In total, 9,400 assessments out of 1.9 million, less than 1 percent of all assessments, were affected by this issue. Of the 9,400 impacted assessments less than 1,700 students had a change in performance level, 94% of which changed to a higher performance level.

The assessments impacted were some English I & II and Integrated Math II end-of-course exams. Only 5 form versions of these end-of-course exams were scored incorrectly – out of 275 versions of the EOC tests administered across all content areas.

Assessments for grades 3-8 were not impacted.

The EOC scoring issue impacted about 70 schools (out of 1,800) in 33 districts (out of 146). Because relatively few – 0.3% – tests had performance level changes, there is no impact to the statewide results.

The multiple quality checks in place at the vendor, state, and district levels prevented this error from impacting any accountability determinations.

Additionally, the department will update the individual TVAAS growth measures for the 230 teachers who may be impacted by these student score changes for EOC. We are reaching out to those educators to let them know about this issue through TNCompass.

Questar has taken full responsibility for the error and has correctly re-scored, at no cost to the state, the impacted assessments. The corrected results have already been returned to districts.

The data quality process effectively identified this issue in partnership with districts, and we will continue to conduct rigorous data quality checks going forward and will continue to be transparent in our reporting. Additionally, as the state moves to online assessments these types of data errors associated with the scanner programming will be less likely.

Though we have reported more than 99% of grades 3-8 and EOC score data correctly, we expect 100% accuracy. We hold our vendor and ourselves to the highest standard of delivery because that is what students, teachers, and families in Tennessee deserve.

Our educators work tirelessly to help students prepare for success. TNReady results help teachers, students, and parents learn about students’ strengths and areas for growth, and they provide specific feedback that can help parents understand how they can to best support their child.

Click Here to Download the Powerpoint Presentation

As flaws with the new assessments and vendors continue, our members continue to call on us to advocate for separating assessment results from their evaluations, which have an impact on their futures and careers. 

We look forward to working with the Tennessee Department of Education, policymakers and other education stakeholders to resolve ongoing issues.

Additionally, the department will update the individual TVAAS growth measures for the 230 teachers who may be impacted by these student score changes for EOC. We are reaching out to those educators to let them know about this issue through TNCompass.

Questar has taken full responsibility for the error and has correctly re-scored, at no cost to the state, the impacted assessments. The corrected results have already been returned to districts.

The data quality process effectively identified this issue in partnership with districts, and we will continue to conduct rigorous data quality checks going forward and will continue to be transparent in our reporting. Additionally, as the state moves to online assessments these types of data errors associated with the scanner programming will be less likely.

Though we have reported more than 99% of grades 3-8 and EOC score data correctly, we expect 100% accuracy. We hold our vendor and ourselves to the highest standard of delivery because that is what students, teachers, and families in Tennessee deserve.

Our educators work tirelessly to help students prepare for success. TNReady results help teachers, students, and parents learn about students’ strengths and areas for growth, and they provide specific feedback that can help parents understand how they can to best support their child.

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LEADING IS HARD – POINTING FINGERS IS EASY  [View/Download PDF]

The Department of Education is tasked with damage control over a problem in assessment for the third consecutive year.  Whether the fault lies with the Department, the test vendor, or some other piece of the puzzle, is of little concern to teachers across the state who may have been impacted. At the end of the day, these assessments factor heavily into the state’s accountability model that affects their overall employment. Regardless of whose fault it is, our teachers suffer the consequences. However, finger pointing does not solve the issue.  It is time for the Department of Education, Tennessee legislators, and education stakeholders to work together to resolve this recurrent obstacle that only serves to create tension and stall progress. Leadership on difficult issues is hard and always challenging. 

We applaud the Department of Education’s transparency of discovering the issues through their own internal oversight and review of the assessment results.  Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen has proactively acknowledged the problems and communicated with districts and stakeholders.  To their credit, in the past the Department has also endeavored to mitigate the damage on behalf of teachers. In response to past problems, legislation was passed that created an avenue for affected teachers to keep test scores from shaping their evaluations.

This time around the ramifications appear to be minimal – once the department instigated an extensive review of all the tests and questions with the vendor, less than one percent of all assessments were identified as having been affected (5 form versions of the English I & II and Integrated Math II exams). The newly implemented grades 3-8 assessments were not impacted and overall over 99 percent of score data were reported correctly.  If this issue had been a first-time issue, or testing and evaluations were not linked, this issue would be insignificant.   

For the Department, 99 percent is not enough, and they are committed to attaining 100 percent accuracy. According to Commissioner McQueen, “We hold our vendor and ourselves to the highest standard of delivery because that is what students, teachers, and families in Tennessee deserve.” However, problems continue to undermine the validity of the entire system. And the question numerous teachers posed to us: “How long will our state continue attaching such high stakes to such a flawed process?” 

“Obviously, we continue to have deep concerns regarding the dependent relationship of assessment and evaluations,” according to Professional Educators of Tennessee Chief Operating Officer Audrey Shores.  She added, “The road to digital assessments would be a much easier transition, if they didn’t have the incredibly stressful potential of sending a teacher’s career careening off-course.”  

This is also the third consecutive assessment vendor who has not provided accurate results. Presumably, we have been through three of the top candidates in the industry, and all have failed to meet the needs and expectations of Tennessee students and educators. Questar is widely known and respected for its innovative approach to assessment.  However, Educational Testing Service (ETS) recently purchased Questar, so the state must also ensure compliance and high expectations.   

On Monday, Speaker of the House Beth Harwell called for hearings on the current state of the assessments, which is expected to be held next week.  On Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at 4:00 pm CST, Professional Educators of Tennessee will be hosting a live webinar with Commissioner McQueen and the Department of Education to discuss the impact of TNReady scores.

To register for this event, go tohttp://www.proedtn.org/event/tnreadyimpact.

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MORE THAN A TEST SCORE [View/Download PDF]

“Public Education” is on the lips of every politician, during every election cycle. Yet, the debate continues. It is doing well, it is doing poorly, it needs reform, whatever the narrative needs to be that day or what the audience wants to hear.

Well, there are three sides to every story: “Yours, mine, and the cold, hard truth,” like the old Don Henley song reminds us. Out of the roughly 55.5 million K-12 students in America, 49.5 million of them are in our public schools, which is a little over 89%. If you visit a public education classroom today, you would be amazed at what our educators do on a daily basis.

We must remind ourselves we are not producing components for an industrial and societal machine. We are educating children. We can all agree that an engaging and challenging education is the proven path to prosperity and a life-long love of learning. Teachers consistently tell us that “testing” and “preparing students for a test” are among their top concerns in our internal surveys.

It has long been acknowledged that a strong public educational system is essential not only to the successful functioning of a democracy, but also to its future. That system must provide all children with an equitable and exceptional education that prepares them for college, career and life.

Educators, themselves, must exercise a higher duty of care than most professionals. Teachers face exposure to liability much greater than does the average citizen. Nearly every day, teachers must deal with diverse laws related to issues such as child abuse, student discipline, negligence, defamation, student records and copyright infringement. And many politicians are more concerned with a test score that their children produce than the immeasurable impact that teachers may make on a child’s life.

Often educators must contend with the fact that students do not have a consistent source of high-quality, nutritious food, if they have food at all at home. Issues like hunger and poverty, like it or not, are not imagined and they are prevalent in classrooms and schools across the nation. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 15.3 million children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life. These 8 states have statistically higher food insecurity rates than the US national average (14.6%): Arkansas (21.2%), Mississippi (21.1%), Texas (18.0%), Tennessee (17.4%), North Carolina (17.3%), Missouri (16.9%), Georgia (16.6%), and Ohio (16.0%). More than 1 in 5 children is at risk of hunger. Among African-Americans and Latinos, it’s 1 in 3 according to the USDA.

It is hard to focus on education when you are hungry. Poverty and hunger also lead to other health issues, which also go untreated. What other profession besides public education teacher is evaluated on their students’ test scores, when students lack the basic necessities of life?

Steve Turner in his brilliant satirical poem “Creed” referenced the state of our culture, when he wrote prevailing illogical thought processes: “This is the fault of society. Society is the fault of conditions. Conditions are the fault of society.” Seemingly educators bear the brunt of the outcomes of children, and society is a given a pass. The problems we confront are larger than the children walking through the school house door.

The solutions are more than a score on a test. So, when the next politician speaks about education when seeking your vote, ask them what their plans are to alleviate poverty and hunger in your community. That is much more important than test scores to a whole lot of families.

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Professional Educators of Tennessee is a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. 

2016-17 State Assessment Vendor Announcement FAQ

from the TN Department of Education

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TN CALLS IT QUITS WITH MEASUREMENT INC.  Download Article

The relationship between Tennessee and Measurement Inc. has been a dysfunctional one, with teachers and students bearing the brunt of the consequences. In a show of strong leadership, TN Dept of Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced today that the contract with Measurement Inc. is terminated, effective immediately. The department insists that they fulfilled their obligations under the contract, but the most recent delay caused by the vendor’s inability to meet deadlines left them with no choice.

“Measurement Inc.’s performance is deeply disappointing. We’ve exhausted every option in problem solving with this vendor to assist them in getting these tests delivered,” Commissioner Candice McQueen said. “Districts have exceeded their responsibility and obligation to wait for grade 3-8 materials, and we will not ask districts to continue waiting on a vendor that has repeatedly failed us.”

In addition, the department announced that no district will be required to administer Part 2 of TNReady in grades 3-8. If a district has received a full complement of materials for a 3-8 subject they may choose to give that part of the test, but will receive limited feedback on the results. High school and all end-of-course testing will continue as planned.

So what does this mean for schools and teachers? Basically, any measure that depends on test scores will not be calculated for the 2015-2016 school years, which will leave a gap in those that depend on multiple years’ data. Adjustments will have to be made to future calculations, though exactly how that will be handled is not yet clear. For now, no data from test for grades 3-8 will be included on the state report card, no Reward Schools will be identified from this school year, and Priority School lists will not be calculated.

The new law signed by Governor Haslam this month that gives teachers the option of including assessment results within the student growth component of their evaluations this year provides some guidance as to how the effect on evaluations will be handled. Under the new law, TVAAS data from prior years will still factor into a teachers score; if they do not have data from previous years, the qualitative component of their evaluation will increase. If they chose an achievement measure based on TVAAS and that data is now unavailable, they will have to choose a new achievement measure. The department plans to release more details and guidance regarding these aspects soon.

“We have already been hearing from teachers regarding their disappointment that an assessment they have spent huge amounts of time and energy preparing for, and in some cases had high hopes would help boost their scores this year, is now a non-factor,” said Audrey Shores, COO of Professional Educators of Tennessee. “While we have concerns about the negative repercussions that the past year’s testing failures may have on teachers and how this gap year will affect them in the future, we commend Commissioner McQueen’s proactive leadership and commitment to transparency throughout the process.”

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We are pleased to announce that the Department of Education, in light of the statewide technology failures with TNReady, have reconsidered their position regarding the potential negative impact on teachers’ evaluations.

Last year, our association and others worked with the department to pass the Tennessee Evaluation Enhancement Act, which limited the impact of test results to 10% of evaluation scores. Under the new proposal, teachers would have the choice to include or not to include student results from the 2015-2016 TNReady assessment in his or her evaluation score. The Governor will work with the General Assembly to develop specific language and move it through the legislative process.

We are honored to work with a department administration that listens to and respects Tennessee educators. Read the full statement below, and please share your thoughts with us at info@proedtn.org. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

HASLAM PROPOSES additional Flexibility for teachers

Proposal gives teachers the choice to include 2015-16 TNReady results if scores benefit them

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today announced he would seek additional flexibility for teachers as the state continues its transition to the TNReady student assessment.

Under the proposal, teachers would have the choice to include or not to include student results from the 2015-2016 TNReady assessment in his or her evaluation score, which typically consists of multiple years of data. The proposal keeps student learning and accountability as factors in an educator’s evaluation while giving teachers the option to include this year’s results if the results benefit them. The governor will work with the General Assembly on specific language and a plan to move the proposal through the legislative process.

“Tennessee students are showing historic progress. The state made adjustments to teacher evaluation and accountability last year to account for the transition to an improved assessment fully aligned with Tennessee standards, which we know has involved a tremendous amount of work on the part of our educators,” Haslam said. “Given recent, unexpected changes in the administration of the new assessment, we want to provide teachers with additional flexibility for this first year’s data.”

Tennessee has led the nation with a teacher evaluation model that has played a vital role in the state’s unprecedented progress in education. Tennessee students are the fastest improving students in the country since 2011. The state’s graduation rate has increased three years in a row, standing at 88 percent. Since 2011, 131,000 more students are on grade-level in math and nearly 60,000 more on grade-level in science.

The plan builds upon the Teaching Evaluation Enhancement Act proposed by the governor and approved by the General Assembly last year. This year is the first administration of TNReady, which is fully aligned with the state’s college and career readiness benchmarks.

“Providing teachers with the flexibility to exclude first-year TNReady data from their growth score over the course of this transition will both directly address many concerns we have heard and strengthen our partnership with educators while we move forward with a new assessment,” Department of Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said. “Regardless of the test medium, TNReady will measure skills that the real world will require of our students.”

Most educator evaluations have three main components: qualitative data, which includes principal observations and always counts for at least half of an educator’s evaluation; a student achievement measure that the educator chooses; and a student growth score, which usually comprises 35 percent of the overall evaluation.

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Read this FAQ from the Department of Education.  

"We were disappointed in the failure of TNReady. We were really hopeful the technology was in place to move the state to the next phase of testing, but we heard from teachers statewide of problems. At this point, I am not sure of the validity or reliability of test results. Certainly this is going to require discussion on the significance of this failure and the consequences for teachers and students moving forward."  
- Dr. JC Bowman, Executive Director

How does this affect you in your classroom, and how do you feel it should be addressed? Contact your legislators to weigh on. Visit our Education Advocacy contact page to quickly contact all members of the Senate and House Education Committees, or click here to find your district's legislator.

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THE STANDARDS, THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' [Download Article]

The only thing that’s constant is change, especially for Tennessee’s academic standards. In 2009, Tennessee implemented more robust language, math, and science standards through the Tennessee Diploma Project. At the same time, the plan was being made to adopt and implement the Common Core State Standards for language and math. These were fully implemented in our state by the 2013-2014 school year, and last school year the social studies standards received their first makeover since 2001. At the same time, Tennessee began the process of revising the language and math standards.

A new 2015 state law codifies the process for how Tennessee’s standards are created. Currently, public feedback is open on language, math, and science standards. (You can participate at https://apps.tn.gov/tcas.) Next January, the state will begin taking comments on social studies standards.

I applaud the state for welcoming public feedback because as a teacher I heard a lot of feedback about the standards – all of them. Unfortunately, there was next to nothing I could do with that feedback, which is not something I relayed to my students or parents. Instead, like most teachers, I listened attentively and tried to validate their concerns, direct them to where they could send their feedback, and, in the case of the Common Core standards, explain why Tennessee adopted them (Race to the Top funding) and show them what the shift would mean for their children.

Sometimes I would mention that the majority of teachers were not involved in creating the standards, and we too experienced as much stress when standards changed: every resource and assessment we had created now had to be re-evaluated. Our familiarity with the standards was gone, as was our timing in many cases. And of course none of us knew how well students would immediately adapt to the new assessments, but we all knew there would be growing pains.

Teachers are caught in the middle when it comes to state standards, especially controversial standards that garner media attention. Teacher’s evaluation scores are composed of both achievement and growth score data, which come from student test scores. The students are tested over their knowledge of the standards. If a teacher decides not to teach the standards, there are a multitude of consequences.

Depending on the district, this would potentially affect their compensation, their number of observations for the next school year, qualify them for an improvement plan, or could be used against them in personnel decisions such as transfers, reassignments, or dismissal. This decision doesn’t just affect their scores though: a school’s scores are affected, which means it could impact the compensation, workload, and personnel decisions of teachers in non-tested grades and subjects who rely on the school’s scores for part of their evaluations.

Most teachers continue teaching their current standards, regardless of their personal feelings about them, because it is risky and insubordinate to not. Many parents may view this as disregarding their input, but the truth is that, until this year, the majority of teachers in Tennessee have had very little input into the standards. They are teaching the standards not because they necessarily love them (and some do) but because it is their job.

Additionally, not every teacher controls what resources they are allowed to use in their classroom. Some systems expect teachers to only use approved, district-provided materials or to teach from a script. In this case, not only does the teacher not control what they teach, but they also do not have input into how they teach it. Their principal may not either, though they may be tasked with ensuring that district materials are used.

On the other hand, having strong relationships with parents is a key to student success. When a parent has issues with the standards, teachers are frequently the first to hear about it. These concerns usually involve instructional materials, assessments, and teaching methods as well, not just the content. Teachers take these conversations in stride because it is important for parents’ opinions to be heard, and it is probably not the first time a teacher has heard complaints about the standards; in fact, they’ve probably heard them since 2009.

So for educators’ sakes, we at Professional Educators of Tennessee are excited that the state Department of Education is providing a means for parents, students, and even educators to give their input on the standards at https://apps.tn.gov/tcas. We encourage Tennesseans to read the proposed standards and share their opinions on them before they are adopted.

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Samantha Bates serves as the Director of Member Services for Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. She taught six different sets of standards during her five years of teaching as a middle school language, science, and social studies teacher. 

Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited. For more information on this subject or any education issue please contact Professional Educators of Tennessee. To schedule an interview please contact Audrey Shores, Director of Communications, at 1-800-471-4867 ext.102.

Originally published in TREND magazine at www.trendtn.com 

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THE PROBLEM WITH VALUE-ADDED [Download Article]

Student performance on assessments can be measured in two very different ways, both of which are important. Achievement describes the knowledge or proficiency of an individual in something that has been learned or taught. This is measured by achievement tests where students are compared to other students in their grade. Growth, in comparison, describes the increase made over the academic year. The student is their own baseline.

To determine growth in Tennessee, a value-added model was invented by statistician Dr. William Sanders. Sanders and his team at the agriculture school at the University of Tennessee developed a model based on theories applied in agricultural genetics. This theory was developed during a perfect economic and political storm. By 1992 the Tennessee Supreme Court ordered a more equitable funding system for public schools. This action created renewed interest in education accountability, and Sanders’ formula was included in Tennessee’s Educational Improvement Act.

In general, value-added models use sophisticated statistical algorithms and standardized test results, combined with other information about students, to determine a “value-added score.” The running joke among Tennessee educators is that the algorithm of our model is a more closely guarded secret than the Coca-Cola formula. The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) is only one of many models used across the country.

No one will deny that educators need to be held accountable just like members of any other profession. As a condition of receiving a Race to the Top grant, the federal government put an increased emphasis on value-added accountability systems. States that received Race to the Top money further linked teacher evaluation plans to value-added measures. In the future, states need to be wary of being coerced with federal money to adopt education policies.

As value-added models have become increasingly widespread and carry higher stakes, questions concerning the validity and reliability of their results have grown more important. The teacher is often deemed the determining factor in a students’ growth (or lack thereof). The problem with this from an educator perspective is at least three-fold:

•    Problem # 1 - Are the students’ socio-economic statuses considered when growth is determined? Using a student’s original scores as a baseline appears to address this issue, but educators know that circumstances can change in an instant. What if a student’s physiological needs (food/shelter) along with the need to feel safe or loved are no longer being met? How can any teacher expect a student to learn grammar rules or multiplication facts if a parent lost a job or passed away? Valued-added does not address social-emotional issues surrounding a child.

•    Problem # 2 - What if the students in a school or district consistently score in the 80-90 percentile? When student scores are consistently above average, there is little room for growth. This negatively affects teachers’ scores.

•    Problem # 3 - What is measured? Most achievement tests measure English/Reading and Mathematics. Even the new TNCore tests will only test the literary aspects of Science and Social Studies. What if you teach PE or music? Where will your value-added scores come from?

On the surface, value added assessment appears to be a reasonable method to measure growth of a student on more than just how they perform on achievement tests. And we agree with that. The problem lies when the teacher is graded (evaluated) based on these valued-added scores. There is too much room subjectively. It simply is not fair for a teacher’s livelihood to be based on extenuating factors that he or she cannot control.

Moreover, a teacher should never be punished for the zip code in which they teach, who their students are or which subjects they teach. Each school is as unique as the community it serves. There must be more equitable way to determine teacher quality, success and effectiveness. Perhaps the value-added accountability model, which was created in 1992, needs to be re-examined, updated and perhaps replaced by something less contentious and less likely to be misused by administrators and policymakers. Until that formula has been created, tested and proven with ALL teachers, teachers’ scores and salaries should not be tied to it.

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Bethany Bowman is the Director of Professional Learning for Professional Educators of Tennessee, a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. 

Originally published in TREND magazine at www.trendtn.com 

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TESTING, TESTING, 1, 2, 3… [Download Article]

The 2015-2016 school year ushers in some big changes to assessments that have been developed as the state has reacted to changing standards and legislation. Professional Educators of Tennessee Board President Cathy Kolb and Director of Technology & Communications Audrey Shores participated in the Assessment Practices Task Force that convened in April and continued meeting each month throughout the summer. A final report from the TN Department of Education on the findings and recommendations of the task force was released today.

The task force was established by the Department of Education to gather and analyze information regarding opinions about the assessment landscape in Tennessee form a variety of stakeholders including classroom teachers, district leaders, legislators and parents. The goal was to establish a set of principles and recommendations to guide decision-making around assessments, particularly in regard to the new TNReady assessments that will be implemented this year for ELA and Math.

While a university degree is not appropriate for everyone, studies show wide income gaps for those who do not go on to some type of post-secondary training. This is why standards are developed with “college and career readiness” in mind, and TNReady is designed to assess student’s proficiency in relation to the standards. One feature of the new tests is the more varied and interactive nature of the questions. Designed to be administered online, TNReady will utilize a variety of question types in addition to multiple choice. Some math questions will allow the use of a calculator instead of banning them outright, and ELA questions will involve activities such as highlighting passages. Sample questions are available online through MICA, a platform designed to be available to students and the public accessible through any browser. This also gives students who would like more practice with the system the ability to access it outside of the classroom. The MIST system will be available to teachers for creating practice tests for students in the classroom. There is a waiver option for districts who are not ready for online test-taking, but overall the online system will reduce costs, and after the first year should reduce the time it takes the department to provide results.
 
A series of surveys this past year, including a statewide survey we conducted last spring, uncovered a pattern of concerns regarding the culture of testing. Disruptions to regular instruction that affect the entire school and the amount of testing are two of the key concerns expressed, and that the Department says they are working hard to address. 

Scheduling and Class Disruption
One of the biggest complaints that surfaced from teachers and district leaders was how disruptive assessments are, leading to a loss of valuable instruction. Past assessments were not designed with the variety of schedules utilized by different districts, which often led to a virtual shutdown of the entire school during testing. First, the new TNReady assessments are designed to fit within a regular 45-60 minute class period. Rules regarding the surrounding environment have also been relaxed, so teachers will no longer have to paper their entire rooms to cover walls or move the class to another location. Testing windows have also been developed to provide more flexibility on both the school and district level. Districts can choose their own windows within those provided by the state, and not all school within a district have to test on the same day. The Scheduling and Logistics Task Force began meeting over the summer to develop exemplary schedules based on a variety of scheduling models. It will continue to meet throughout the next year to provide feedback and guidance.

Too Much Testing!
The message has been clear – kids are getting too many tests, and not enough learning. Parents are upset by the stress they see their children coping with as they are pressured to perform well on tests throughout the year. Teachers are frustrated that they lose opportunities to teach more freely because they are constantly preparing the students to perform well on tests. Superintendents are stressed by trying to meet accountability requirements while responding to the concerns of educators and the community.

The amount of tests must be addressed at the summative, interim and formative levels. The state-required assessments are summative tests, of which there are only a few. Interim assessments are often required at the district level to address potential gaps that will affect student performance on the summative tests, and formative assessments include a wide array of test typically administered at the classroom level. Many feel that the high-stakes nature of testing at the state level drives a large quantity of tests at other levels, and leads to a disproportionately large amount of instructional time being devoted to test prep. While studies have found that most people believe that assessments and accountability are importance pieces of the education puzzle, they also feel that too much importance is placed on these aspects to the detriment of overall student learning.

Better Feedback
Relevance was a recurring topic that came up during the task force. Assessments need to provide feedback that is useful to students, teachers and parents. The Department of Education will be designing new reports this year to be both more aesthetically pleasing and easier to read in order to provide relevant information more clearly to parents and students. Clear, specific recommendations based on areas of weakness to help students improve is one of the primary goals of the new reports in order to provide more actionable information.

Being the first year of implementation for TNReady means that results will likely be delayed relative to previous years. One of the proposed benefits of the online system is that results will be available sooner in subsequent years. Criticism from teachers remains, however, because there is little they can do with this information once the child has left their classroom.

Testing and Evaluation
This spring, the 109th Tennessee General Assembly passed the Tennessee Teaching Evaluation Enhancement Act to lessen the effect that implementation of a new assessment will have on accountability measures for educators. The key portion of this legislation is the adjustment of the weighting of student growth data in teacher evaluations. This applies to the new TNReady ELA and Math assessments as well as the social studies and science TCAP tests. New assessments will only represent 10% of the evaluation for the 2015-2016 school year, 20% in the following year, and returning to 35% for the 2017-2018 school year. Only the most recent year’s data will be used if it results in a higher rating for the teacher. The act also decreases the weighting of growth data for teachers in non-tested subjects from 25% to 10% in for the 20-15-2016 school year, rising to a maximum 15% thereafter. For graphs showing growth score weighting for test v. non-tested subjects and more view the Tennessee Teaching Evaluation Enhancement Act page on the TEAMTN website.


Developing a plan for the new assessments has involved having conversations with and gathering feedback from a variety of stakeholders across the state. Legislators have taken steps to ease the transition and a variety of resources (see Resources, right) have been developed to assist everyone involved in understanding the changes that are being implemented this year. The process of gathering feedback and developing various components will continue throughout the year as the new tests are put to the test themselves. 

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New Survey Reveals How Teachers Really Feel About Testing

[VIEW DETAILED REPORT]

In April of 2015, Professional Educators of Tennessee surveyed Tennessee educators regarding their opinion of standardized testing in the state of Tennessee. The survey was distributed via email to all members and on social media, as well as being made available to all educators on the Professional Educators of Tennessee website.
 
208 educators completed the survey, with 134 being classroom teachers. Eighty-five percent of educators stated that standardized testing takes up “too much” of classroom instructional time. And, as the state moves to online testing, there appear to be numerous glitches in the testing procedure.
 
We invite you to read the detailed report, which includes the results of 15 charted questions. If you have additional questions regarding the survey or results, please contact Bethany Bowman at bethany.bowman@proedtn.org.

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Professional Educators of Tennessee is a non-partisan teacher association headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited.

Now is your chance to weigh in on the upcoming review of Tennessee's State Standards. Governor Haslam announced on October 22, 2014 that there will be a public process for reviewing the state's K-12 english language arts and math standards.

Go to https://apps.tn.gov/tcas/ to complete the standards review and commentary process. Detailed instructions are displayed after you click Begin. Once you verify that you have read the instructions you will be asked to enter some basic identification information and your role as an educator or member of the community.

You may choose to review and comment on as many subjects, grade levels and/or strands as you want. Each standard is displayed along with the options to recommend keeping it, reviewing it, or removing it.

The data will be collected by the Southern Regional Education Board before being passed on to the Standards Review & Development Committees and Advisory Teams. There are 2 Review and Development Committees, one for ELA and one for Math. Each committee will be advised by 3 Advisory Teams (K-5, 6-8 and 9-12). See this press release for more information on the structure and members of the teams and committees.

It is especially important for professional educators to make their voices heard on this issue. You are the most experienced members of the community when it comes to teaching standards. Every day you are interacting with students and evaluating how and what they should be learning. Now is the time to pass on this valuable insight and be a part of determining the future of our state's standards for your students' education.

Click Above to Read the Backgrounder