District, teachers’ union say state evaluations place too much emphasis on FCAT
TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Education released evaluation data for every teacher in the state Monday morning, data which school districts and the state’s largest association of professional employees said is flawed, and places too much emphasis on FCAT scores.
The rankings are based on a complicated “value added measurement” or VAM scores for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years, and purport to measure a student’s progress over the course of a year, and allegedly allows the state to compare teachers based on that formula.
The rankings were released as a result of state courts ruling in favor of Jacksonville-based newspaper, Florida Times Union, in a lawsuit filed against the department of education.
A joint release issued by School Superintendent Lori Romano and Hernando County Classroom Teachers’ Association President, Jo Ann Hartge, stated Hernando County School District’s Teacher Evaluation System includes VAM as only one of several data points used in each teacher’s calculation, and does not alone determine the effectiveness of an individual teacher.
“Since every school district in the state of Florida has its own process for computing the final teacher evaluation score, the comparison of teachers between districts and between teachers across the state is meaningless,” they stated in the release. “The District and the HCTA will continue to work collaboratively to support teachers. Accountability and measures of teacher effectiveness that are valid, fair, and reliable will continue to be the goal of our teacher evaluation system.”
Romano and Hartge further stated they recognize the release of the information might be concerning or stressful to some parents and stakeholders.
“Please know that we value you and your daily commitment to our students,” they stated. “We will continue to communicate with you as we are informed of any future developments.”
Florida Education Association President Andy Ford stated in a press release that the information provided by FDOE is meaningless as a teacher comparison, and is based solely upon student test scores rather than administrative evaluations, in many cases ranking teachers on students they didn’t even teach or on subjects they didn’t teach.
Hernando teacher evaluation scores increased nearly 32 percent last year compared to 2012.
Those scores showed 48.7 percent of instructional staff are “highly effective,” which is 16.4 percent higher than the state average, and 49.3 percent are “effective.”
According to the evaluations, only 1.6 percent of Hernando teachers “need improvement,” and none were “unsatisfactory.”
By comparison, last year 16.8 percent of Hernando teachers were evaluated as “highly effective,” which was 5.8 percent below the state average, and 81.9 percent were evaluated as “effective,” or 7.3 percent below the state average.
Hernando’s teacher evaluations scores are based on a combination of student performance, principal-reviews of teachers’ instructional practice, and professional development plans and responsibilities, which districts statewide are allowed to develop.
According to the Student Success Act of 2010, at least 50 percent of a performance evaluation must be based on data and indicators of student learning growth assessed annually, and measured by statewide assessments, including FCAT.
District-wide FCAT scores improved last year between 1 percent and 11 percent, depending on grade.
For teachers on a performance pay scale, an improved evaluation could mean a pay raise next year.
Details of the performance pay system for teachers still have to be worked out at the district level. However, Hartge recently said the HCTA is willing to compromise with the school district in implementing a performance pay model while working out teacher raise negotiations, which are still currently ongoing.
