Teacher Preparation

Fla. Uses Test Data to Review Teacher Preparation

By Stephen Sawchuk — November 20, 2009 1 min read
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U.S. Secretary of Arne Duncan has been praising Louisiana’s model for using “value-added” data to gauge the strengths of its various education programs, but it looks like a bunch of other states are coming on board, too.

First, we heard that Texas had plans to do something similar, also using value-added data.

And now there’s this story from Ron Matus in the St. Petersburg Times that says that Florida is using data from the state test to gauge whether at least 50 percent of each training program’s graduates are helping their students to grow a year or more on the tests.

I can’t tell from the story if Florida is using a “value-added” methodology like Louisiana’s, or some other format. The story uses the term “value table,” usually a somewhat simpler growth model that looks at the breakdown of students into the various categories on the state test (i.e., “proficient,” “basic,” etc.) But in any case, it looks like there’s a bona fide interest among the states to look at the outcomes of teacher preparation.

Now, I wonder, how will these states intervene in those programs that don’t seem to be producing effective teachers?

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teacher Beat blog.