Incorporating Stakeholder Feedback when Developing Value-Added Models

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In light of the ODE report suggesting we're over-testing students, this study titled "Anticipating and incorporating stakeholder feedback when developing value-added models" offers further means to address the explosion in testing.

Abstract: State and local education agencies across the United States are increasingly adopting rigorous teacher evaluation systems. Most systems formally incorporate teacher performance as measured by student test-score growth, sometimes by state mandate. An important consideration that will influence the long-term persistence and efficacy of these systems is stakeholder buy-in, including buy-in from teachers. In this study we document common questions from teachers about value-added measures and provide research-based responses to these questions.

The study found four key issues that consistently came up with regard to the use of value-added for teacher evaluations:

1. Differentiated Students. How can the model deal with a teacher who has students who are different for some reason (e.g., poverty, special education, etc.)? Will that teacher be treated unfairly by the model?
2. Student Attendance. Will teachers be held accountable for students who do not regularly attend class?
3. Outside Events and Policies. How can the model account for major events (e.g., school closings for snow) or initiatives (e.g., Common Core implementation) that impact achievement?
4. Ex Ante Expectations. Why can’t teachers have their predicted scores – the target average performance levels for their students – in advance?

These questions still persist today, and are larely unanswered.

Here's the full report.

State Superintendent says 20 hours of standardized tests is too many for Ohio kids, suggests reductions

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Ohio students spend close to 20 hours a year taking standardized tests, state Superintendent Richard Ross reported today, as he suggested several ways to trim that time by about four hours per grade.

In a report to the legislature and Gov. John Kasich on testing in Ohio, Ross outlined ways he believes the state can reduce testing by about 20 percent, while also preserving the state's ability to evaluate the academic progress of students and measure the performance of schools and teachers.

Whether his recommendations satisfy critics of ever-increasing testing remains to be seen. He does not recommend any changes to the new state tests that ramped up testing time this year and that sparked some of the criticism of a "test mania": new Common Core tests in English and math and new tests created by the state in social studies, science and American history and government.

Ross instead proposes limiting standardized testing - not including tests created by teachers - to two percent of the school year for every student, and limiting districts to preparing students for tests only one percent of the time.

(Read more at Cleveland.com)

Kasich’s student-mentoring program drops religious requirement

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The Ohio Department of Education will no longer require schools to partner with religious organizations in seeking funding from Gov. John Kasich’s new $10 million student-mentorship program.

Department officials said yesterday that the definition of a “faith-based organization has been expanded” to include nonreligious groups.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which argued that the requirement was unconstitutional, said the new definition was baffling and failed to resolve the issue.

“It’s clear that this was always intended to be a religious experience. This confusing language does not let them off the hook,” said Chris Link, executive director of ACLU Ohio.

Education Department spokesman John Charlton said the change was made in response to inquiries from the ACLU and grant applicants.

(Read more at the Dispatch)

ODE thinks we've been over-testing kids by 20%

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The Ohio Department of Education was tasked with producing a report detailing the amount of testing being performed in K-12 public schools. You can read the report itself, below.

The report find the following: Total Testing Time for the Average Student in a School Year, in Hours

Kindergarten 11.3
1 11.6
2 13.6
3 28
4 24
5 22.6
6 22.3
7 21.1
8 23
9 20.4
10 28.4
11 18.9
12 12.2
Total 257.4
Average 19.8

That's a lot of testing, and is not fully comprehensive as the report notes.

ODE goes on to provide 8 action steps being taken, and ends with a number of recommendations, including

This report includes a comprehensive package of legislative recommendations to shorten the amount of time students spend taking tests. These recommendations place limits on the overall time students spend taking tests each year, eliminate unnecessary tests and modify the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System. The following recommendations are contingent on each other and would require implementation as a comprehensive set of reforms. If this package of recommendations is adopted, the state can reduce the amount of time students are taking tests by nearly 20 percent.

A clear admission that the testing regime in Ohio has gotten out of hand by at least 20%

To get there ODE lays out the following recommendations

Recommendation 1: Limit the amount of time a student takes tests at the state and district levels to 2 percent of the school year, and limit the amount of time spent practicing for tests to 1 percent of the school year. These limits will encourage the state and districts to prioritize testing and guarantee to students and parents that the vast majority of time in the classroom will focus on instruction, not testing.

[...]

Recommendation 2: Eliminate the fall third-grade reading test and administer the test in the spring. Students who do not reach the required promotion score on the spring test will have a second opportunity to take the test in the summer.

[...]

Recommendation 3: Eliminate the state’s requirement that districts give mathematics and writing diagnostic tests to students in first grade through third grades.

[...]

Recommendation 4: Eliminate the use of student learning objective tests as part of the teacher evaluation system for grades pre-K to 3 and for teachers teaching in non-core subject areas in grades 4-12. The core areas are English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Teachers teaching in grades and subject areas in which student learning objectives are no longer permitted will demonstrate student growth through the expanded use of shared attribution, although at a reduced level overall. In cases where shared attribution isn’t possible, the department will provide guidance on alternative ways of measuring growth.

That last recommendation is a huge admission. Teachers and administrators have been hugely burdened developing and deploying SLO's and students have received little to no benefit from them. Here's the full report

Supt Ross Report on Testing

On Charter Schools, Auditor Yost Makes Promising Noises

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During his swearing in, Auditor Yost had this to say

Charter schools will remain a major focus in Auditor Dave Yost's second term, the Republican announced Monday.

Mr. Yost, who was sworn in during a morning Statehouse ceremony, told reporters that while he plans to also prioritize public records, board accountability and data integrity, charter schools will be "front and center" during the first year of his new term.

"We audit every charter school now, if the legislature chooses to give us additional tools or greater responsibility we'll do that - we'll be part of that discussion too," he said. "I think there's some things that need to be addressed. There's multiple ways of doing it and that debate will unfold and I'll be part of it over the next few months."

The auditor launched an investigation into 19 charters managed by Concept Schools last year. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, October 14, 2014)

In addition to charter schools, Mr. Yost said he intends to focus on board accountability, saying he's "very concerned about the uneven quality of the unpaid boards that we charge with supervising various public functions."

"I'm not sure the lines of responsibility are sufficiently clear or that boards are being given the tools they need to succeed," he said. "And that goes from a small charter school board acting in a public behalf all the way up to large institutions spending millions of dollars."

That's good to hear. However, we are still waiting for his report on Horizon schools. He seemed much swifter, and public, with his investigation of data tampering at Columbus City Schools than he has been with this important investigation. A quick look at recent campaign finance reports show that Yost has been a significant beneficiary of contribtiuons from the charter sector, taking in almost $50,000 from David Brennan (White Hat) and William Lager (ECOT) alone. Only time will tell whether that was a sound investment by the for profit charter folks.