Compass Point
A Weekly Collection of Data, Articles and Insights from the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute
A project of the Virginia Commonwealth University's Center for Public Policy
L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Recent State and Local Education News
Virginia’s schools are growing more racially and economically segregated

The Washington Post
November 14, 2016

Virginia’s schools have grown more racially and economically segregated during the past decade, with the number of students attending schools that are considered racially and economically isolated doubling from 2003 to 2014, according to a new report.

The number of Virginia schools isolated by race and poverty has grown from 82 in 2003 to 136 in 2014, according to the Commonwealth Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Richmond. The number of students in those schools has grown from about 36,000 to more than 74,000, according to the report, published this month.

The report defined an isolated school as one where more than 75 percent of the students are black or Hispanic and more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, an indicator of poverty.


Tomahawk Creek Middle principal honored as 2016 Virginia Master in the Middle Educator of the Year
The Progress-Index
November 14, 2016

CHESTERFIELD — Dr. David Ellena, principal of Tomahawk Creek Middle, was named the 2016 Virginia Middle School Association (VMSA) Master in the Middle Educator of the Year. The Master in the Middle Educator of the Year Award recognizes educators who serve in roles other than classroom teachers, who have demonstrated a devotion to working with young adolescents, who are a role model and educational leader and have demonstrated a commitment to best middle-level practices.

Dr. Ellena was recognized for many successful and creative ideas throughout his career, including the creation of a makerspace at Tomahawk Creek Middle and the support of the technology club by incorporating drones and promoting the use of 3D printers. 


EDITORIAL: A roller coaster for Va. universities
Culpeper Star Exponent
November 11, 2016

For Virginia’s state colleges and universities, what a difference six months makes.

After years of decreases in the state allocation for higher education, the two-year budget approved last spring provided a $313 million boost for the state institutions. This fall, however, the colleges’ finance staffs are reeling from Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s warning of a 7.5 percent decrease in state college funding starting in July as the state struggles with the $1.48 billion shortfall. For colleges and university the decrease represents a $114 million cut in general fund allocations. The governor prohibited state cuts to student financial-aid funding.

He also urged the schools to avoid simply raising tuition and fees to make up the difference. But that is, of course, easier said than done.

Recent National Education News
Did the idea of free public higher education go down with the Democrats?
The Washington Post
November 14, 2016

Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders elevated the issue of college affordability with campaign proposals to make public higher education free for the vast majority of American families, but those prospects have faded with the election of Donald Trump.

Trump policy adviser Sam Clovis made it clear during the campaign that the Republican would not support free public higher education, calling the idea “absurd” in an interview with Inside Higher Ed. And with congressional Republicans calling for the federal government to dial back its role in education, the chances of a federal-state partnership to lower the cost of college appear slim.

Proponents of debt-free college, nevertheless, remain convinced that the movement still has legs. They say underlying concerns about skyrocketing student debt and price barriers in higher education are as relevant as ever. And even without federal support, they say, there’s enough momentum at the state level to keep the movement alive.

Pilot School uses natural education method
The News Journal
November 14, 2016

Instead of the newest monkey bars or jungle gym, students at the Pilot School's new $34 million campus have the natural beauty of the First State Historic National Park as both a playground and classroom.


The school's administrators say the wonder of nature intertwines with the school's curriculum and is one of the best ways to reach students who struggle in traditional school settings.

"From the beginning, we didn't want it to be a school on 50 acres but a 50-acre-school," said Andrew Hayes, a senior engineer at ForeSite Associates. "This design responds to all the natural features on the site so kids are able to learn through the environmental aspects."

Education among worst-paying college majors in Utah
Deseret News Utah
November 14, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Education is among the worst-paid majors in Utah when it comes to starting salaries, according to a report from the state auditor released Monday.

Utah students who graduated with a bachelor's degree in education reported an average starting salary of $36,577, according to data from the Utah System of Higher Education based on graduates of the class of 2014.

That is about half to two-thirds of what their peers in math, engineering and computer science made.

What is the future of teacher evaluation?

This week, CEPI's Senior Fellow, Dr. Richard Vacca, published the second issue of our Education Law Newsletter for this school year and reviews several appelate court decisions that have created the boundaries on how school systems can use student test data in evaluating the performance of teachers.  He also offers a list of policy implications for school systems to keep in mind. We excerpt portions of that Education Law newsletter below

In keeping with the topic of teacher evaluation, including the use of student achievement on standardized test scores to a portion of the teacher evaluation we thought we would review this topic area briefly, including some of the growth in this practice.  

Dr. Vacca's newsletter focuses on the Cook, et al. v. Bennett, et al. ruling out of the 11th Circuit in 2015.  As he notes, the underlying dispute in the case stemmed from the Florida legislature requiring that at least 50% of a teacher's performance evaluation be based on indicators about student growth.  According the US Education Dashboard, Florida was one of only 8 states in 2010 to use such data in evaluations (see graphic below).  

However, this use of "value-added modeling" (VAM) has grown rapidly in the education sector.  The data-driven approach has been pushed by the Obama administration and other education reform proponents.  But the growth is also probably due the simple availability of standardized test data and the use of software that makes statistical analysis techniques such as VAM easily within reach of most school systems.  A 2013 report by the Center for Public Education showed significantly expanded use.  All states mandate or recommend some use of such data, with 23 states requiring or recommending that schools weight such data as at least 50% of their evaluation process.  


Despite this rapid adoption, the use of such data analysis is a major debate within education (as evidenced by a range of critiques, including this column from the Answer Sheet blog at the Washington Post, one from the American Statistical Association, or this article from the Economic Policy Institute.)  In some cases, the systems are set up to judge teachers relative to each other, leading to a similar percent of teachers being deemed "ineffective" in relation to their peers, regardless of what direction scores moved.  


These countervailing currents - rapid adoption of the student growth metrics on one hand and critiques of how such systems need to be adjusted on the other - mean that many school systems are making adjustments from year to year.  (We found news articles on these recent shifts by Denton, TX and Knoxville, TN.)  While such recalibration is important, it no doubt also adds stress to the lives of teachers who have to adjust to being graded on a different rubric.  

The story here in Virginia is also one of change and adjustment.  New evaluation guidelines were adopted in 2011 and VDOE has some helpful information about the process used to adopt them, as well as training materials for evaluators.  Likewise, the Virginia Education Association has information posted that is designed to inform teachers about the new guidelines.    

Finally, in this week's poll snapshot we look back at public opinion a few years ago when we asked Virginians about support for part of teachers' pay being based on the test performance of students.    

We hope you find this collection of analysis and insights useful.

Sincerely,
CEPI
Poll Snapshot - Support for linking student test performance to teacher pay
Above we discussed the movement to include student performance data in teacher evaluations.  Another incentive based idea proposed (and roundly debated) over the last several decades, has been linking teacher pay to the student performance on standardized tests.  

From 2009-2010 to 2012-13 we asked Virginians the following question in our Commonwealth Education Poll.  "Thinking about teacher pay . . . Do you think that teachers whose students perform well on tests should or should not get paid more than teachers whose students perform poorly on those tests?"

In general, the public was not thrilled about the idea, though in 2010-11, a 46% plurality approved of the idea of paying teachers more if their students performed better.


After a clear shift toward opposition to test-based pay in 2011-12, Virginians’ level
of support increased again in 2012-13 to 38%.  Still most Virginians (51%) opposed
paying teachers whose students perform well on tests more than
those whose students perform poorly.

Parents of public school students tend to be more opposed than others to including test scores in teacher pay. In the 2012-13 poll, fifty-nine percent of parents said teachers should not be paid based on test scores.

Women were more opposed than men to test-based pay. Among women, 31% said teachers with higher performing students should get paid more than other teachers, 59% say they should not. Men were more evenly divided with 44% saying such teachers should get paid more and 43% saying they should not.

To read the full 2012-13 poll, visit our website.
Education Law Newsletter - Teacher Effectiveness and Student Learning Outcomes

Excerpted from the November edition of CEPI's Education Law Newsletter.  This issue is written by Dr. Richard Vacca and looks at Cook, et al. v. Bennett, et al. (11th Cir. 2015).  Read the full newsletter on our website.

Overview
In my September (2016) commentary dealing with teacher tenure, I offered the following observation:

“In communities across this country, especially as student statewide academic test scores for individual schools (elementary, middle, and secondary) are published in local newspapers, parent groups and tax payer organizations are demanding that incompetent (poorly performing, ineffective) teachers be quickly identified and summarily removed from public school classrooms. In their view removing ‘poorly performing and ineffective teachers’ from classrooms will improve instruction and boost student learning—especially in lower performing schools.” (CEPI Education Law Newsletter, 2016)

September’s commentary featured a California case where plaintiff students alleged that state tenure, dismissal, and seniority-based statutes created an oversupply of “grossly ineffective teachers” inevitably having a negative effect on minority students. Vergara, et al. v. State of California, et al. (Cal. App. 2016) In the California case, while some experts testified on the impact of teacher classroom effectiveness on student learning and achievement, other experts testified regarding the impact on student learning and achievement of a host of outside-of-school factors such as child poverty. Vergara (Cal. App. 2016)

Our October 26, 2016, the Compass Point (CEPI) publication featured a discussion of the high rate of teacher turnover in the public schools in each state. In addition to such continuing issues as salary, the growing emphasis being placed on statewide standardized student testing was another major factor cited as a reason to leave the profession and chose another line of work—especially as the results of student standardized tests are being linked to salary, job security, and the curriculum. The National Education Association (NEA) refers to today’s school environment as “high stakes” for teachers. ( Compass Point, 2016)

Because both sources call attention to the linking of student statewide academic testing results to teacher instructional performance evaluation and assessment, this month’s commentary is intended as an extension and follow-up discussion.
********

Cook, et al. v. Bennett, et al. (11th Cir. 2015)
Recently, I reviewed a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in which teachers challenged a newly implemented state system of teacher performance evaluation. Student academic achievement test scores were included.

Facts
In 2011, the Florida legislature enacted the Student Success Act (SSA). The new law established new requirements for public school teacher’s performance evaluations. The SSA provided that at least 50 percent of a performance evaluation must be based on data and indicators of student growth assessed annually by statewide assessments.

A formula to measure individual student learning growth on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) was adopted by Florida’s Commissioner of Education. The formula was called the FCAT value-added model (FCAT VAM)-which is based on students’ FCAT scores in English and mathematics and accounts for a host of predictor variables (such as a student’s prior test scores, attendance, and disability status). The FACT VAM outputs a teacher’s component which measures an individual teacher’s effect on student score, and a common school component which measures the potential impact of factors that are part of the school’s environment, such as the principal or the neighborhood. A teacher’s final evaluation score is calculated by adding the teacher component score with 50 percent of the common school component score.

********

Policy Implications
Valuable information can be gleaned from the Eleventh Circuit Court’s rationale reviewed above. What follow are suggestions to keep in mind as local school officials reexamine existing teacher evaluation policies and consider the adoption of new ones—especially where states are moving in the direction of requiring the inclusion of statewide student academic testing results (outcomes) as criteria in evaluating teacher “instructional effectiveness.”

Local school system policies must make it clear that:
  • Teacher evaluations and job performance assessments are directly related to the measurement of teacher on-the-job effectiveness in meeting the school system’s goal of improving student academic growth and proficiency.
  • Teacher evaluations and on-the-job performance assessments include valid and reliable criteria for making judgments regarding on-the-job performance and instructional effectiveness.
  • Teacher evaluation and on-the-job measurement procedures are rationally related to the specific purpose of judging teacher instructional effectiveness in carrying out the school systems goal of improving student academic growth and proficiency.
  • Teacher evaluation and on-the-job assessments are intended as developmental and not punitive.