A state committee charged with monitoring the field testing of a new teacher evaluation program held its first meeting today, September 24, and appointed former Senator Randy Ewing of Ruston as chairperson. Vice Chair is Teacher of the Year Julia Williams, from Lafayette High School.
Jefferson Parish teacher Diana Dunham was appointed to represent the Louisiana Federation of Teachers on the committee. LFT President Steve Monaghan, who was unable to attend the first meeting due to a prior obligation, will also serve on the committee.
Under the so-called Value Added Model, future teacher evaluations will be based in part on the progress made by students. The VAM is a radical departure for Louisiana teacher evaluations, which traditionally have relied on the judgment of a principal or other supervisor.
The VAM employs a complicated mathematical formula to determine how much progress students make in a school year.
Teachers will be evaluated annually, instead of every three years, and teachers who are rated as ineffective will be placed in an intensive assistance program.
Some 20 school districts, including charter schools, are participating in a two-year trial of the VAM. At the end of the trial period, the legislature will have the option of cancelling the program if it does not live up to expectations as an evaluation instrument.
LFT staff confirmed that teachers in the trial school districts will see the see last year’s value added data for their current students this fall.
Following spring testing, teachers in the trial districts will be asked to update their student rosters. In fall of 2011, they will be able to see value added data for students in their classrooms this year.
The first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Educator Evaluation was mainly dedicated to introducing members, electing officers and being briefed on the committee’s duties.
While the LFT opposed passage of the value-added evaluation law in the legislature, the Federation was successful in adding various teacher protection amendments to the bill. There is much more information about the value added model and Louisiana’s new evaluation law on the LFT Web site’s One Stop Information Shop. Please click here to visit the VAM section.