We could devote pages to explaining this, but we will try to provide a brief explanation and then link to more detailed information. Bottom line, while not perfect, the Florida VAM provides the best statewide data anyone in the United States has ever had to measure the actual value added by teachers.
It calculates the expected amount of growth a student should make in a given year, based on prior year results for this student and adjusted for certain characteristics of students, classrooms and schools that are included in the model. The model attempts to provide a fair evaluation by accounting for differences in proficiency and other characteristics of students assigned to teachers in the State of Florida. The VAM will show whether students made the expected amount of growth, have made less growth than expected, or have made progress beyond expectations.
• Up to 2 years of prior achievement data
• Number of subject relevant courses in which a student is enrolled
• Students with Disabilities (SWD) status
• English Language Learner (ELL) status
• Gifted status
• Attendance
• Mobility (number of transitions)
• Retention (measured by difference from the most common age in grade)
The following classroom characteristics are included:
• Class size
• Similarity of students prior test scores in the class
It attempts to more accurately answer the question, “How much value did a teacher add to their student’s growth?” Learning gains, as used for school grades, measure changes in student scores from one year to the next without taking into account prior achievement or other student characteristics and without adjusting for student or classroom differences.
Good afternoon all, wanted to let everyone know that the 2017-18 data is posted and has been live on the website for the past month. Sorry for delay in announcing, just ended up having a very busy October
Well, good news, we finally received from the Florida DOE the 2017 list of High Impact Teachers. There are some teachers who are high impact and whose names were redacted by the DOE before we were given the list, so you might not find yourself on the list even if you received a letter. We… Read more »
Hello, we are receiving a number of requests related to the high impact teacher notification letters sent to teachers around the state. Based on the questions we are receiving, we thought it might be helpful to put up a blog post to answer some frequently asked questions. First, the selection criteria for Florida’s best teachers,… Read more »
The website has now been updated with the new Florida teacher data from the 2016-17 school year. I think that this is the earliest we have ever updated. Enjoy, and support excellent teachers!
Source: The Little-Known Statistician Who Taught Us to Measure Teachers – The New York Times Very Interesting article on the man who created the Value Added Model for evaluating teachers. To fairly evaluate teachers, Mr. Sanders argued, the state needed to calculate an expected growth trajectory for each student in each subject, based on past… Read more »