Chapter 1 Cont...Tracking Growth

In the current system of education, data is used to monitor student growth which is then correlated to teachers' effectiveness.  This controversial use of data has caused tension with in the system it represents. 

Does this make any sense???

In some assessments, such as the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), the teacher is assessed by the students growth from one year to the next.  The frustration for many teachers was that is was not assessing the growth of the same student.  It would assess this year's third graders, with next year's third graders, to last year's third-graders.  Logically, one would conclude, that in order to assess growth accurately, one would have to assess the growth of a child from third grade to the fourth grade.


With the current teacher evaluation system, I have heard the following claim which presents no logic,  "...three years of effective teachers has an enormous impact on test scores."  This claim often leads teachers to believe they are in a lose/lose situation.  Secondary teachers often ask, "Why bother?"  Using the data collected from summative assessments as an indicator of a teacher's effectiveness can not be considered as a valid way to assess teachers.