Florida has become the latest state, after New York and Ohio, to release “Value Added Measurement” data on its teachers for all to see as a matter of public record.

In case you are not familiar with it, VAM is a complex formula that measures students’ year-to-year performance on state tests, calculating better-than-expected or worse-than-expected scores, and attributing that to the value teachers bring to students’ education.

If teachers are not bringing enough value to educating students, then teachers are not worthy of a raise or even a job, for that matter.

As a Floridian, a teacher, and a human being, the Value Added Model of judging teacher effectiveness raises all kinds of red flags for me.

First and foremost, this approach once again is founded on two false premises: the misguided belief that the student’s performance on the end-of-year, standardized test is the true measurement of academic growth, and the faulty assumption that an individual classroom teacher is the only factor affecting students’ academic growth.

We all know that this is just simply not the case.

For example, Sarah struggled with self-confidence issues until she ended up in Ms. Martin’s art class for the last grading term of the year. Ms. Martin helped Sarah discover her latent creative gifts, and she began to excel. However, Sarah scored poorly on the end of year test and Ms. Martin received a negative VAM score.

Thomas comes from an economically-challenged, single-parent home and is often called upon to perform tasks not typically delegated to a 12-year-old. He misses school frequently. Yet, his scores are reflected on his teachers’ value added measures.

Jacqueline has always disliked school. She thinks that her teachers are “out to get her” and she acts up in class frequently. Since her language arts teacher has stressed the importance of the end of year test, Jacqueline Christmas-trees her answer sheet.

Say, I’ve got an idea.

How about a VAM for parents? How effective were they at preparing their children to enter the world of formalized education?

How about a VAM for politicians? What value have they brought to the educational world? The vast majority of policy makers have never taught a class of kids, yet they insist on legislating policies dictating how teachers should be evaluated.

There’s nothing wrong with accountability, but it definitely can be taken to an extreme—especially when it’s as poorly conceived as the VAM.

Let’s dump this meaningless VAM garbage and put the “human” back in the humanities.

Chad Manis of Daily Teaching Tools
Free teaching tools including ideas, resources, strategies, and classroom management techniques learned during 33 years of teaching–software, graphic organizers, practice tests, and much more.

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