Value-added models are a class of growth models used in education to assign responsibility for student growth to teachers or schools. For value-added models to be used fairly, sufficient statistical precision is necessary for accurate teacher classification. Previous research indicated precision below practical limits. An alternative approach has…

A key question facing teacher evaluation systems is how to combine multiple measures of complex constructs into composite indicators of performance. We use data from the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) study to investigate the measurement properties of composite indicators obtained under various conjunctive, disjunctive (or complementary),…

Service-learning is an instructional strategy used by faculty at hundreds of institutions, including those that are members of Campus Compact, an organization committed to service-learning and community/civic engagement. For this study, researchers examined a variety of online survey assessment tools used in service-learning projects. The…

In an educational landscape where teacher evaluation methods are increasingly discussed and scrutinized in research offices, legislatures, and school buildings, the differences in policy and instrumentation among states and school districts can paint a confusing picture of these varying methods and their impacts. To help assess the picture in…

In Gargani and Strong (2014), we describe The Rapid Assessment of Teacher Effectiveness (RATE), a new teacher evaluation instrument. Our account of the validation research associated with RATE inspired a review by Good and Lavigne (2015). Here, we reply to the main points of their review. We elaborate on the validity, reliability, theoretical…

Although the relationship between students' perceptions of quality of teaching and student satisfaction may seem self-evident, the interaction between these concepts and related methods of assessment is rarely examined. The findings reveal that the perceived teaching quality categorization emerges as a concept with multiple facets centered on…

The debate surrounding teacher quality often fails to differentiate effectively between teacher-preparation providers. This failure also extends to distinguishing between teachers prepared in traditional campus-based accredited programs from those prepared in unaccredited campus-based programs. This paper compares assessment infrastructure and…

This paper describes convergent validity evidence regarding the mandatory, standards-based Chilean national teacher evaluation system (NTES). The study examined whether NTES identifies--and thereby rewards or punishes--the "right" teachers as high- or low-performing. We collected in-depth teaching performance data on a sample of 58…

A typology of evaluation techniques intended to help school personnel to compare and contrast various approaches. (Author/MLF)

The many studies on teacher competence, usually biased toward specific viewpoints and concerned only with segments of the whole performance, demonstrate the need for a clearer definition. Methods used to determine effectiveness include measurement of pupil gains, job analysis, and pupil ratings of teachers, all subject to inherent fallacies and…

This paper examines the current academic and policy literatures concerning school evaluation in primary and secondary education within the OECD countries. First, it provides a typology of the existing systems of school evaluation across the OECD. It encompasses the diverse criteria and instruments commonly used to carry out schools evaluation, as…

Two inherently contradictory forces are pushing for reform in portfolio assessment. On the one hand there is a felt need for creating more rigid standards that operate to promote uniformity of ratings in appraisal practice to certify achievement. However, on the other hand, critical questions are being raised about separating acclaimed portfolio…

Facet design and smallest space analysis were used to study teaching behaviors. From a questionnaire administered to 2,000 high school students, a set of 25 structuples were selected which repeatedly described teachers' instructional behavior. Results supported the usefulness of this approach. (GDC)

This paper describes the development of standardized evaluation procedures for Pasco County's inservice teacher education. Since 1983, legislation requires teacher education centers in Florida to report attainment data based on measurable objectives. Using a classification system adapted from the "Rand Change Agent Study," directors and…

In this study, different educator groups had to rank a total of 112 behaviors that had previously been judged to be important to the performance of first-year teachers. Focus was on determining which behaviors are important in the assessment of beginning teachers' performance and whether or not such assessment should be differentiated according to…