U.S. DOE linking student test scores to quality of teacher preparation programs -- opportunity to comment
12/30/2014

 

It’s “break time” for our schools and school employees around the state. But, as you know by now, policymaking and new rules and regulations are continually being proposed both at the state and national levels with little consideration for breaks.   

 

We want you to know about an issue the U.S. Department of Education has proposed—and there is an opportunity for you to weigh in with your comments to U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. If you have time, you might want to share your thoughts.

 

The issue has to do with evaluating teacher preparation institutions (schools of education) by using the same kind of  “value added model”  (or VAM) that is currently used to grade K-12 public schools and public school teachers. 

 

In short, the regulation purports to grade teacher preparation programs, in part, by the standardized test score results of the students of the graduates of these preparation programs  (who are now teachers). This simplistic extension of the teacher and public schools evaluation model does a disservice to the art and science of real teaching and student learning while also failing to recognize societal and other factors that contribute to student performance on tests.

 

Find out more and comment at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=ED-2014-OPE-0057. Comments must be in by Feb. 2, 2015—but the earlier, the better.

 

The question continues to be, where will this one-day in a student’s year, standardized test results fascination (obsession?) end?    

 

And for-profit  testing companies continue to smirk all the way to the bank.