Value-Added and Teacher Branding

The video and report discuss the problems found with Value-add

Audrey Amrein-Beardsley and Clarin Collins of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University present “The SAS Education Value-Added Assessment System (SAS® EVAAS®) in the Houston Independent School District (HISD): Intended and Unintended Consequences”.

The SAS Educational Value-Added Assessment System (SAS® EVAAS®) is the most widely used value-added system in the country. It is also self-proclaimed as “the most robust and reliable” system available, with its greatest benefit to help educators improve their teaching practices. This study critically examined the effects of SAS® EVAAS® as experienced by teachers, in one of the largest, high-needs urban school districts in the nation – the Houston Independent School District (HISD).

Using a multiple methods approach, this study critically analyzed retrospective quantitative and qualitative data to better comprehend and understand the evidence collected from four teachers whose contracts were not renewed in the summer of 2011, in part given their low SAS® EVAAS® scores.

This study also suggests some intended and unintended effects that seem to be occurring as a result of SAS® EVAAS® implementation in HISD. In addition to issues with reliability, bias, teacher attribution, and validity, high-stakes use of SAS® EVAAS® in this district seems to be exacerbating unintended effects.

Here's the video

Ohio education budget and policy briefing

On August 29, 2011, The Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, the Columbus Urban League, and KidsOhio.org co-hosted a budget briefing. The new State Superintendent of Education, Stan Heffner, and other Ohio Department of Education staff explained the many budgetary and policy changes in the newly-enacted, two-year state budget.

We were going to write a report on this presenation, that covered a diverse range of issues from the move away from minimum competency to college readiness, accountability, the budget, common core standards etc. There was a lot of corporate speak in this presenation, including such turns of phrase as "return on investment" and even a graph that shows arrows going up and down that's intended to mask the drastic budget cuts.

But, rather than write that report we thought we'd take all the words in the presenation and produce this word scramble. The more a word was used, the bigger it is. It's clear to see where the emphasis is, and just as importantly, where it is not.

Here's the powerpoint of the presentation that was given

Ohio Education Budget 829

Here's the video of the presentation. You'll want to fast forward past the introductions to the 13 minute mark for the beginning of the actual presentation. The presentation ends at 1 hour 10 minutes, then there's a Q&A

Watch live streaming video from escofcentralohio at livestream.com