When teachers are charged with 3020-a, the DOE Attorney fights to keep the Respondents' students' grades out of the hearing as "irrelevant". As a fighter for the defense of teacher tenure and employment, I believe that student grades are relevant to determining whether a teacher is competent or not. And the decision to use grades is always case-specific, especially since I believe each 3020-a proceeding is unique and deserves scrutiny.
Teachers who are not charged with grade changing should demand production of their students' grades as relevant to a disciplinary hearing, because the student grades show that the assessments were done (tests, portfolios, projects) and the teacher is the one to provide objective comments on the output of each student.
If a Math teacher's students go from a Level 2 to a Level 3 in math during the time they are in Respondent's classroom, this is key evidence that shows the Respondent knows what he/she is doing in his/her content area. If students do well in a science class, Respondent, a science teacher, must be able to use these scores.....If, on the other hand, students are special needs kids, discipline problems, or "I could care less" kids, then an argument can and should be made to the arbitrator on exactly this point.
Looking at the issue of whether student scores/assessment should be used in evaluating teachers, there is alot of links (see below) which mandate this connection.
Secondly, there are no prohibitions anywhere, and most certainly there is no statement anywhere that student scores are "not relevant".
Here are some supporting links:
Student achievement = 40%
http://www.nysut.org/~/media/Files/NYSUT/Resources/2013/April/TED/TED_Handbook.pdf
[see p. 36, 37]
[See paragraph #1]
Betsy Combier
Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational
Assessment of Students
Developed By The
American Federation Of Teachers
National Council On Measurement In Education
National Education Association
This is not copyrighted
material. Reproduction and dissemination are encouraged. 1990
LINK
The professional education associations began working in 1987 to develop
standards for teacher competence in student assessment out of concern that the
potential educational benefits of student assessments be fully realized. The
Committee[1] appointed to this project completed
its work in 1990 following reviews of earlier drafts by members of the measurement,
teaching, and teacher preparation and certification communities. Parallel
committees of affected associations are encouraged to develop similar
statements of qualifications for school administrators, counselors, testing
directors, supervisors, and other educators in the near future. These
statements are intended to guide the preservice and inservice preparation of
educators, the accreditation of preparation programs, and the future certification of all
educators.
A standard is defined here as a principle generally accepted by the
professional associations responsible for this document. Assessment is defined
as the process of obtaining information that is used to make educational
decisions about students, to give feedback to the student about his or her
progress, strengths, and weaknesses, to judge instructional effectiveness and
curricular adequacy, and to inform policy. The various assessment techniques
include, but are not limited to, formal and informal observation, qualitative
analysis of pupil performance and products, paper-and-pencil tests, oral
questioning, and analysis of student records. The assessment competencies
included here are the knowledge and skills critical to a teacher's role as
educator. It is understood that there are many competencies beyond assessment
competencies which teachers must possess.
By establishing standards for teacher competence in student assessment, the
associations subscribe to the view that student assessment is an essential part of teaching and
that good teaching cannot exist without good student assessment. Training to
develop the competencies covered in the standards should be an integral part of
preservice preparation. Further, such assessment training should be widely
available to practicing teachers through staff development
programs at the district and building levels.
The standards are intended for use as:
·
a guide for teacher educators as they design and approve
programs for teacher preparation
·
a self-assessment guide for teachers in identifying their needs
for professional development in student assessment
·
a guide for workshop instructors as they design professional
development experiences for in-service teachers
·
an impetus for educational measurement specialists and teacher
trainers to conceptualize student assessment and teacher training in student
assessment more broadly than has been the case in the past.
The standards should be incorporated into future teacher training and certification programs. Teachers who have not
had the preparation these standards imply should have the opportunity and
support to develop these competencies before the standards enter into the
evaluation of these teachers.
The Approach Used To Develop The Standards
The members of the associations that supported this work are professional
educators involved in teaching, teacher education,
and student assessment. Members of these associations are concerned about the
inadequacy with which teachers are prepared for assessing the educational
progress of their students, and thus sought to address this concern
effectively. A committee named by the associations first met in September 1987
and affirmed its commitment to defining standards for teacher preparation in
student assessment. The committee then undertook a review of the research
literature to identify needs in student assessment, current levels of teacher
training in student assessment, areas of teacher activities requiring
competence in using assessments, and current levels of teacher competence in
student assessment.
The members of the committee used their collective experience and expertise to
formulate and then revise statements of important assessment competencies.
Drafts of these competencies went through several revisions by the Committee
before the standards were released for public review. Comments by reviewers
from each of the associations were then used to prepare a final statement.
The Scope of a Teacher's Professional Role and Responsibilities
for Student Assessment
There are seven standards in this document. In recognizing the critical need to
revitalize classroom assessment, some standards focus on classroom-based
competencies. Because of teachers' growing roles in education and policy
decisions beyond the classroom, other standards address assessment competencies
underlying teacher participation in decisions related to assessment at the
school, district, state, and national levels.
The scope of a teacher's professional role and responsibilities for student
assessment may be described in terms of the following activities. These
activities imply that teachers need competence in student assessment and
sufficient time and resources to complete them in a professional manner.
·
Activities Occurring Prior to Instruction
·
(a) Understanding students' cultural backgrounds, interests,
skills, and abilities as they apply across a range of learning domains and/or
subject areas;
·
(b) understanding students' motivations and their interests in
specific class content;
·
(c) clarifying and articulating the performance outcomes
expected of pupils; and
·
(d) planning instruction for individuals or groups of students.
·
Activities Occurring During Instruction
·
(a) Monitoring pupil progress toward instructional goals;
·
(b) identifying gains and difficulties pupils are experiencing
in learning and performing;
·
(c) adjusting instruction;
·
(d) giving contingent, specific, and credible praise and
feedback;
·
(e) motivating students to learn; and
·
(f) judging the extent of pupil attainment of instructional
outcomes.
·
Activities Occurring After The Appropriate Instructional Segment
(e.g. lesson, class, semester, grade)
·
(a) Describing the extent to which each pupil has attained both
short- and long-term instructional goals;
·
(b) communicating strengths and weaknesses based on assessment
results to students, and parents or guardians;
·
(c) recording and reporting assessment results for school-level
analysis, evaluation, and decision-making;
·
(d) analyzing assessment information gathered before and during
instruction to understand each students' progress to date and to inform future
instructional planning;
·
(e) evaluating the effectiveness of instruction; and
·
(f) evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum and materials
in use.
·
Activities Associated With a Teacher's Involvement in School
Building and School District Decision-Making
·
(a) Serving on a school or district committee examining the
school's and district's strengths and weaknesses in the development of its
students;
·
(b) working on the development or selection of assessment
methods for school building or school district use;
·
(c) evaluating school district curriculum; and
·
(d) other related activities.
·
Activities Associated With a Teacher's Involvement in a Wider
Community of Educators
·
(a) Serving on a state committee asked to develop learning goals
and associated assessment methods;
·
(b) participating in reviews of the appropriateness of district,
state, or national student goals and associated assessment methods; and
·
(c) interpreting the results of state and national student
assessment programs.
Each standard that follows is an expectation for assessment knowledge or skill
that a teacher should possess in order to perform well in the five areas just
described. As a set, the standards call on teachers to demonstrate skill at
selecting, developing, applying, using, communicating, and evaluating student
assessment information and student assessment practices. A brief rationale and
illustrative behaviors follow each standard.
The standards represent a conceptual framework or scaffolding from which
specific skills can be derived. Work to make these standards operational will
be needed even after they have been published. It is also expected that
experience in the application of these standards should lead to their
improvement and further development.
Standards For Teacher Competence In
Educational Assessment Of Students
1. Teachers should be skilled in
choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
Skills in choosing appropriate, useful, administratively convenient,
technically adequate, and fair assessment methods are prerequisite to good use
of information to support instructional decisions. Teachers need to be well-acquainted
with the kinds of information provided by a broad range of assessment
alternatives and their strengths and weaknesses. In particular, they should be
familiar with criteria for evaluating and selecting assessment methods in light
of instructional plans.
Teachers who meet this standard will have the conceptual and application skills
that follow. They will be able to use the concepts of assessment error and
validity when developing or selecting their approaches to classroom assessment
of students. They will understand how valid assessment data can support
instructional activities such as providing appropriate feedback to students,
diagnosing group and individual learning needs, planning for individualized
educational programs, motivating students, and evaluating instructional
procedures. They will understand how invalid information can affect
instructional decisions about students. They will also be able to use and
evaluate assessment options available to them, considering among other things,
the cultural, social, economic, and language backgrounds of students. They will
be aware that different assessment approaches can be incompatible with certain
instructional goals and may impact quite differently on their teaching.
Teachers will know, for each assessment approach they use, its appropriateness
for making decisions about their pupils. Moreover, teachers will know of where
to find information about and/or reviews of various assessment methods.
Assessment options are diverse and include text- and curriculum-embedded
questions and tests, standardized criterion-referenced and norm-referenced
tests, oral questioning, spontaneous and structured performance assessments,
portfolios, exhibitions, demonstrations, rating scales, writing samples,
paper-and-pencil tests, seatwork and homework, peer- and self-assessments,
student records, observations, questionnaires, interviews, projects, products,
and others' opinions.
2. Teachers should be skilled in
developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
While teachers often use published or other external assessment tools, the bulk
of the assessment information they use for decision-making comes from
approaches they create and implement. Indeed, the assessment demands of the
classroom go well beyond readily available instruments.
Teachers who meet this standard will have the conceptual and application skills
that follow. Teachers will be skilled in planning the collection of information
that facilitates the decisions they will make. They will know and follow
appropriate principles for developing and using assessment methods in their
teaching, avoiding common pitfalls in student assessment. Such techniques may
include several of the options listed at the end of the first standard. The teacher
will select the techniques which are appropriate to the intent of the teacher's
instruction.
Teachers meeting this standard will also be skilled in using student data to
analyze the quality of each assessment technique they use. Since most teachers
do not have access to assessment specialists, they must be prepared to do these
analyses themselves.
3. The teacher should be skilled
in administering, scoring and interpreting the results of both
externally-produced and teacher-produced assessment methods.
It is not enough that teachers are able to select and develop good assessment
methods; they must also be able to apply them properly. Teachers should be
skilled in administering, scoring, and interpreting results from diverse
assessment methods.
Teachers who meet this standard will have the conceptual and application skills
that follow. They will be skilled in interpreting informal and formal
teacher-produced assessment results, including pupils' performances in class
and on homework assignments. Teachers will be able to use guides for scoring
essay questions and projects, stencils for scoring response-choice questions,
and scales for rating performance assessments. They will be able to use these
in ways that produce consistent results.
Teachers will be able to administer standardized achievement tests and be able
to interpret the commonly reported scores: percentile ranks, percentile band
scores, standard scores, and grade equivalents. They will have a conceptual
understanding of the summary indexes commonly reported with assessment results:
measures of central tendency, dispersion, relationships, reliability, and
errors of measurement.
Teachers will be able to apply these concepts of score and summary indices in
ways that enhance their use of the assessments that they develop. They will be
able to analyze assessment results to identify pupils' strengths and errors. If
they get inconsistent results, they will seek other explanations for the
discrepancy or other data to attempt to resolve the uncertainty before arriving
at a decision. They will be able to use assessment methods in ways that
encourage students' educational development and that do not inappropriately
increase students' anxiety levels.
4. Teachers should be skilled in
using assessment results when making decisions about individual students,
planning teaching, developing curriculum, and school improvement.
Assessment results are used to make educational decisions at several levels: in
the classroom about students, in the community about a school and a school
district, and in society, generally, about the purposes and outcomes of the
educational enterprise. Teachers play a vital role when participating in
decision-making at each of these levels and must be able to use assessment
results effectively.
Teachers who meet this standard will have the conceptual and application skills
that follow. They will be able to use accumulated assessment information to
organize a sound instructional plan for facilitating students' educational
development. When using assessment results to plan and/or evaluate instruction
and curriculum, teachers will interpret the results correctly and avoid common
misinterpretations, such as basing decisions on scores that lack curriculum
validity. They will be informed about the results of local, regional, state,
and national assessments and about their appropriate use for pupil, classroom,
school, district, state, and national educational improvement.
5. Teachers should be skilled in
developing valid pupil grading procedures which use pupil assessments.
Grading students is an important part of professional practice for teachers.
Grading is defined as indicating both a student's level of performance and a
teacher's valuing of that performance. The principles for using assessments to
obtain valid grades are known and teachers should employ them.
Teachers who meet this standard will have the conceptual and application skills
that follow. They will be able to devise, implement, and explain a procedure
for developing grades composed of marks from various assignments, projects,
inclass activities, quizzes, tests, and/or other assessments that they may use.
Teachers will understand and be able to articulate why the grades they assign
are rational, justified, and fair, acknowledging that such grades reflect their
preferences and judgments. Teachers will be able to recognize and to avoid
faulty grading procedures such as using grades as punishment. They will be able
to evaluate and to modify their grading procedures in order to improve the
validity of the interpretations made from them about students' attainments.
6. Teachers should be skilled in
communicating assessment results to students, parents, other lay audiences, and
other educators.
Teachers must routinely report assessment results to students and to parents or
guardians. In addition, they are frequently asked to report or to discuss
assessment results with other educators and with diverse lay audiences. If the
results are not communicated effectively, they may be misused or not used. To
communicate effectively with others on matters of student assessment, teachers
must be able to use assessment terminology appropriately and must be able to
articulate the meaning, limitations, and implications of assessment results.
Furthermore, teachers will sometimes be in a position that will require them to
defend their own assessment procedures and their interpretations of them. At
other times, teachers may need to help the public to interpret assessment
results appropriately.
Teachers who meet this standard will have the conceptual and application skills
that follow. Teachers will understand and be able to give appropriate
explanations of how the interpretation of student assessments must be moderated
by the student's socio-economic, cultural, language, and other background
factors. Teachers will be able to explain that assessment results do not imply
that such background factors limit a student's ultimate educational
development. They will be able to communicate to students and to their parents
or guardians how they may assess the student's educational progress. Teachers
will understand and be able to explain the importance of taking measurement
errors into account when using assessments to make decisions about individual
students. Teachers will be able to explain the limitations of different
informal and formal assessment methods. They will be able to explain printed reports
of the results of pupil assessments at the classroom, school district, state,
and national levels.
7. Teachers should be skilled in
recognizing unethical, illegal, and otherwise inappropriate assessment methods
and uses of assessment information.
Fairness, the rights of all concerned, and professional ethical behavior must
undergird all student assessment activities, from the initial planning for and
gathering of information to the interpretation, use, and communication of the
results. Teachers must be well-versed in their own ethical and legal
responsibilities in assessment. In addition, they should also attempt to have
the inappropriate assessment practices of others discontinued whenever they are
encountered. Teachers should also participate with the wider educational
community in defining the limits of appropriate professional behavior in
assessment.
Teachers who meet this standard will have the conceptual and application skills
that follow. They will know those laws and case decisions which affect their
classroom, school district, and state assessment practices. Teachers will be
aware that various assessment procedures can be misused or overused resulting
in harmful consequences such as embarrassing students, violating a student's
right to confidentiality, and inappropriately using students' standardized
achievement test scores to measure teaching effectiveness.
Invitation to Users
The associations invite comments from users that may be used for improvement of
this document. Comments may be sent to:
Teacher Standards in
Student Assessment
American Federation of
Teachers
555 New Jersey Avenue,
NW
Washington, DC 20001
Teacher Standards in
Student Assessment
National Council on
Measurement in Education
1230 Seventeenth
Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Teacher Standards in
Student Assessment
Instruction and
Professional Development
National Education
Association
1201 Sixteenth Street,
NW
Washington, DC 20036
[1] The Committee that developed this statement was appointed by
the collaborating professional associations: James R. Sanders (Western Michigan
University) chaired the Committee and represented NCME along with John R. Hills
(Florida State University) and Anthony J. Nitko (University of Pittsburgh).
Jack C. Merwin (University of Minnesota) represented the American Association
of Colleges for Teacher Education, Carolyn Trice represented the American
Federation of Teachers, and Marcella Dianda and Jeffrey Schneider represented
the National Education Association.
From ERIC:
Teacher Competence and Students' Conflict Handling Strategies
Malm, Birgitte; Lofgren, Horst
Research in Education, v76 p62-73 Nov 2006
In a series of studies, teacher competence was studied from a student perspective. Students from different grades in secondary schools were interviewed about their views on what characterises a good teacher. Based on interviews and open-ended questionnaires, it was possible to construct a questionnaire with fixed alternatives that could be applied to a greater number of students. This questionnaire has since been tried, revised and subsequently used as a measure of teacher competence from a student perspective. A reasonable assumption is that teacher competence is related to students' attitudes to school work and learning as well as to students' self-confidence and self-conceptions. Related to student development, studies have been conducted to find out whether there are some basic strategies for handling conflict situations among teenagers. In this article a causal model is tested in which teacher competence, students' school attitudes and self-confidence are related to students' conflict handling strategies. The results show some substantial relationships between factors in the school environment and ways of handling conflicts. There were also some interesting differences between boys and girls. The main focus of the article is on a measurement model concerning teacher competence and a causal model in which conflict handling strategies are related to teacher competence, students' school attitudes and self-confidence.
Descriptors:
Teacher Effectiveness,
Measures (Individuals),
Student Attitudes,
School Attitudes,
Educational Environment,
Student Development,
Gender Differences,
Conflict Resolution,
Causal Models,
Secondary Schools,
Questionnaires,
Correlation,
Self Esteem
