Deborah Ball is the Dean of the UM School of Education and she was chair of the committee that developed that report.
One of the main issues is whether standardized testing should be used to evaluate teachers--that is basically what is written into the legislation. I think it's referred to as VAM.
Steve writes:
Here's video, from Senate TV, of Deborah Ball's presentation on the teacher evaluation recommendations. It's long - 1.5 hours - but worth it, especially for the question and answer period. Share widely so that everyone has a chance to see what has been proposed and the kind of reception it's getting from our Legislature.I think there is a way to fast forward if you just want to get to the Q & A.
The video (I can't figure out how to pull it in to the blog, although I'm sure there is a way):
http://vimeopro.com/mipfs/teacher-eval-hearings/video/74334074
Thanks Ruth. This was very informative. I was completely surprised by the questioning--not at all what I expected.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Pam pointed out to me that nobody talks or worries about the impact on the kids taking the tests, but there's plenty of evidence that test taking is very stressful for some kids, AND that having tests that are high stakes (for either teachers OR kids) means a lot of teaching to the test, narrowing the curriculum. The impact on kids with VAM, in other words, is immense.
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