Saturday, December 11, 2010

Gates foundation research finds test score growth is sign of a good teacher

Gates foundation research finds test score growth is sign of a good teacher
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post
December 11, 2010

While debate rages in the education world about how to measure effective teaching - or whether it is even possible to do so - research funded by a prominent advocate of data-driven analysis has found that growth in annual student test scores is a reliable sign of a good teacher.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reported that and other preliminary findings Friday from a $45 million study of teacher effectiveness in several cities.

"In every grade and subject we studied, a teacher's past success in raising student achievement on state tests was one of the strongest predictors of his or her ability to do it again," said Vicki Phillips, who oversees elementary and secondary education grants for the foundation.

The findings arrive as state and local officials across the country are retooling teacher evaluations in an effort to make the annual ratings of teachers more objective than the customary short classroom observations made by a principal...

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