Educator Evaluation

  • US Department of Education's Education Evaluation Approval Letter to SCDE (dated 2/22/13, provided March 5, 2013)
    •   Transmittal memo from Dr. Zais
  • SCDE's request for districts to pilot educator evaluation systems in SY 13-14, February 21, 2013

"The design will include testing two rubrics. The first is a revised version of the Enhanced ADEPT rubric, which will be modified based on the Teacher Observation Performance Scale (TOPS) Beta Project that the SCDE is performing during the 2012-13 school year. The second rubric will give an alternative to examine."

  • Presentation to SCASA Superintendents Roundtable, December 6, 2012


 

Myth Fact

The U.S. Department of Education requires the use of value-added measures (VAM) as a significant factor in educator evaluations.

For an NCLB waiver, SC must agree to use "student growth" as a significant factor in evaluations. Student growth can be measured many ways. For teachers in tested grades and subjects with measures of a student's achievement at two points in time, at least one of those measures must use those test scores. Other measures may also be used. And the test score measure does not need to be a value-added measure.
A teacher is the most important factor in a student's achievement. The predominate factors are individual and family background characteristics and parental involvement. A 1999 paper estimated these factors at 60%. Research shows that a teacher is the most important school-based factor in achievement, but estimates are that this impact is less than 10%, and that all school factors are around 21%.
SC teachers are not evaluated. SC's continuing contract teachers are currently "evaluated on a continuous basis (i.e., every year)." 2006 ADEPT Guidelines

 

 

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