MCS Superintendent Cash recently told the Commercial Appeal that one of the reasons the Gates Foundation was interested In Memphis was that the district was able to link students’ test score data directly to their teachers through the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS). This capacity enables the system to look not simply at school performance, but also to understand the difference that specific teachers can make. As Superintendent Cash told the CA:
“Parents always know who the best teachers are in a school. Students who have them know, and guess who else knows?” Cash said. “Teachers know. It’s a holy grail issue. “We’re going to be all over this. We have the data. It’s irresponsible not to talk about it (Roberts, November 29, 2009).”
How does the TVAAS system work? As explained by the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), TVAAS works as follows. Statewide tests are administered to students in grades three through eight in mathematics, reading and language arts, science, and social studies. Data is extracted at the student level, meaning that scores can be linked to the student’s demographic characteristics, special status as an English language learner or special education student, teacher, and school.
The data collected from these assessments are then analyzed using value-added analysis. Value-added analysis is a statistical mixed-model methodology whereby inputs prior to the school year of interest are controlled for, and thus, academic gains are the subject of analysis. All data are standardized to reflect valid distributions and minimize testing error.
Significantly, TVAAS allows for a comparison of students as they move through the system. Each year, as a new cohort of children enter a class-room, TVAAS data tells us how far those children progressed the previous year, and establishes a baseline for understanding where they are starting the current academic year.
We applaud the district for their willingness to assess system performance using student’s achievement test data. We would also encourage Supt. Cash to consider extending the TVAAS system to include pre-kindergarten. More than half the achievement gap between low and middle income children identified in high school is present before children enter kindergarten, and investments in our children’s earliest years can build the developmental foundation that will set them on a path to success. Early investments will reduce rates of grade retention, improve academic achievement, and increase graduation rates for the district.
Last month, as we reported here, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke about the need for outcomes’ based system reform for pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade continuums. Traditionally, pre-K reform efforts have been discussed in terms of improving the “inputs” such as teacher training or student to teacher ratios to student performance (Duncan, November 2009). However, MCS is poised to put Secretary Duncan’s suggestions about “outcomes” based reform for early childhood education into practice. Using student outcomes data to assess and reform pre-K to 3rd systems may also help the district get increased funding for its pre-kindergarten program through the federal Early Learning Challenge Fund (Duncan, November 2009).
Sources
Duncan, Arne. November 18, 2009. The Early Learning Challenge: Raising the Bar — Secretary Arne Duncan’s Remarks at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. [Accessed December 3, 2009]
Roberts, Jane. November 29, 2009. “The Masters of Education,” Commercial Appeal < http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/nov/29/the-masters-of-education/> [Accessed December 7, 2009]
