Student Growth Measures in Policy and Practice

Student Growth Measures in Policy and Practice

Kimberly Kappler Hewitt Audrey Amrein-Beardsley Editors Student Growth Measures in Policy and Practice Intended and Unintended Consequences of High- Stakes Teacher Evaluations When Theoretical Models Meet School Realities: Educator Responses to Student Growth Measures in an Incentive Pay Program

Editors Kimberly Kappler Hewitt University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, USA Audrey Amrein-Beardsley Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona, USA ISBN 978-1-137-53900-7 ISBN 978-1-137-53901-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-53901-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016950596 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: J Stromme / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. New York

This volume is dedicated to all of the educators and educational policymakers who work tirelessly to serve students and our nation s interests by providing sound, research-informed, equitable schooling that cultivates the strengths of all students in America s public schools.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would not be possible without the combined efforts of the chapter authors and section commentators. We thank you all for your excellent scholarship, your commitment to this project, and your tireless efforts to bring this book to fruition. We also thank Ms. Lauren Phillips who carefully edited the references in this volume and who drafted the front material. We value your efficiency, attention to detail, and dependability. vii

CONTENTS 1 Introduction: The Use of Student Growth Measures for Educator Accountability at the Intersection of Policy and Practice 1 Kimberly Kappler Hewitt and Audrey Amrein-Beardsley Part I 27 2 When Theoretical Models Meet School Realities: Educator Responses to Student Growth Measures in an Incentive Pay Program 29 Jennifer King Rice and Betty Malen 3 Teachers Voices: Where Policy Meets Practice 49 Jody Longo-Schmid 4 Measuring Student Growth: A View from the Classroom 73 Jonathan Eckert 5 Practitioners Responses to Washington s Required Use of Student Growth Measures in Teacher Evaluation 95 Margaret L. Plecki, Ana M. Elfers, Elise St. John, and Theresa Ling Yeh ix

x CONTENTS 6 The Role of Informational Significance in Shaping Louisiana Elementary Teachers Use of High-Stakes Teacher Evaluation Data for Instructional Decision-Making 117 Timothy G. Ford, Mary Elizabeth Van Sickle, and Michelle Fazio-Brunson 7 What Counts as Good Teaching? How a Student Growth Percentile Model Has Defined Teacher Quality at One Urban Middle School 137 Jessica Holloway-Libell 8 Section I Discussion: How Do Educators Use Student Growth Measures in Practice? 153 Sean Corcoran Part II 167 9 First, Do No Harm? : A Framework for Ethical Decision-Making in Teacher Evaluation 169 Carla M. Evans, Jade Caines Lee, and Winston C. Thompson 10 The Future of Student Growth Models in Managing the Teacher Workforce: Less Direct, More Indirect 189 Michael Hansen 11 An Analysis of the Meaning and Use of Student Learning Objectives 203 Kevin Crouse, Drew H. Gitomer, and Jeanette Joyce 12 Judging Teacher Evaluation: The Legal Implications of High-Stakes Teacher Evaluation Policy 223 Benjamin Michael Superfine

CONTENTS xi 13 Section II Discussion: Student Growth Measures in Evaluation: Illusions of Fairness? 245 Henry Braun 14 Might the Tidal Wave Recede? Considering the Future of Student Growth Measures in Teacher Accountability 261 Kimberly Kappler Hewitt and Audrey Amrein-Beardsley Index 285

LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1.1 Theory of Action underpinning teacher accountability. This articulation of the ToA is informed by Amrein-Beardsley (2014), Harris and Herrington (2015), and Holloway-Libell and Amrein-Beardsley (2015) 5 Fig. 1.2 Types of student growth measures (SGMs) 9 Fig. 4.1 2008 TVAAS teacher report: Eckert. Note : The Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) Gains are listed with standard errors (in parentheses). The NCE Gains are significantly above the main in all three comparisons: grade, state, and system 75 Fig. 4.2 Poplar Grove three-year value-added growth. Note : These scores differ from the TVAAS reports we used in faculty data-mining exercises. The data- mining exercises at the beginning of the school year used these numbers prior to any statistical smoothing performed by Sanders team (See Rothstein, 2010 for an understanding of how this occurs) 77 Fig. 4.3 Value-added growth comparison: Eckert v. district 78 Fig. 4.4 Poplar Grove mean NCE scores (Grades 5 8) 78 Fig. 5.1 Key constructs in the implementation of Washington State s teacher evaluation system 101 Fig. 9.1 A practical framework and feedback mechanism for ethical decision- making in teacher evaluation 174 xiii

xiv LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 14.1 Theory of action (ToA) underpinning teacher accountability. This articulation of the ToA is informed by Amrein-Beardsley (2014), Harris and Herrington (2015), and Holloway-Libell and Amrein-Beardsley (2015) 262 Fig. 14.2 Frames that mediate the influence of the theory of action that underpins the use of student growth measures (SMGs) for teacher accountability 263

LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 FIRST award components 32 Table 4.1 Comparison of nine sites on key elements of TIF implementation (From Eckert, 2013) 84 Table 5.1 Characteristics of study site districts 102 Table 5.2 2014 survey: teacher views of the evaluation system (n = 1823) 109 Table 5.3 2014 survey: perceived impact of TPEP implementation 110 Table 6.1 Breakdown of maximum variation sample of schools by demographic factors 123 Table 7.1 Participant characteristics 141 Table 9.1 Key characteristics of ethical principles related to teacher evaluation 177 Table 9.2 Potential ethical issues in the Westview dilemmas organized by time stamp 178 Table 11.1 State requirements for target student population 206 Table 11.2 State requirements for target comparability 207 Table 11.3 State requirements for assessment choice 208 Table 11.4 State requirements for district quality control and monitoring 209 Table 14.1 Technical challenges regarding the use of student growth measures for teacher accountability 264 Table 14.2 Key findings across Section I: Educators Perspectives 265 xv