Measuring Student Growth in Tennessee: Understanding TVAAS | Page 4

OCTOBER 2014

TAKING NOTE

PAGE 4

TAKING NOTE

OCTOBER 2014

How does TVAAS help principals and district leaders?
Teacher Distribution

Building
School Leader
Capacity to
Use Data:
Maryville City
Schools

TVAAS data can be used at the district and school levels to ensure that high-quality teachers are distributed equitably between
and within schools. This data could help administrators and districts create systemic incentives to attract and retain high-quality
teachers in historically lower-performing, low-income schools. Additionally, TVAAS data provide insight into teachers’ instructional
strengths, whether in certain subject areas or with specific groups of students. For example, TVAAS data may indicate that a
teacher is more effective teaching math than English language arts or that a teacher yields high levels of academic growth for
higher-achieving students. School leaders can use this information to capitalize on teachers’ strengths, placing them with groups of
students or in subject areas where they are most effective instructionally.23

Student instructional interventions

PAGE 5

Maryville City Schools serves approximately 4,900 students. Dr. Mike Winstead,
Maryville’s current Director of Schools, points to the time that Maryville spent working
with school leaders as a key to the success the district has with data. Winstead says,
“We’ve always had a good culture here in Maryville, but in recent years we’ve really
invested time and energy into helping school leaders understand and effectively use
data. We have at least one person on each building’s leadership team who is truly
a data expert.”25 Winstead and his team spent time working with school leaders
to ensure they know what TVAAS data tell them and using that information to
inform school-level decisions. School leaders use TVAAS and other data to ensure
teachers are assigned to subjects and grade levels where they are most effective
instructionally. In addition, school leaders carefully examine TVAAS data to gain a
clear understanding of how the school is addressing the needs of all learners, from
those in the top 25 percent to those in the bottom 25 percent. This information helps
schools to understand if there are students who are not being served well by the
school and to direct resources to those students.26

TVAAS data also inform school and district leaders of individual students or groups of students that need targeted instructional
interventions. This information can inform professional development opportunities for teachers, the implementation of before or
after-school tutoring programs, or the hiring and distribution of instructional coaches.

Teacher support practices

How does TVAAS help state policymakers?

One of the most important uses of TVAAS data occurs at the school level and informs principal practices around teacher support. When
schools have instructional coaches or teacher leaders present, TVAAS data can guide these instructional leaders toward the teachers
who need their help and support the most. In this way, TVAAS data can serve as foundational evidence for teacher improvement
practices, gaining insight into teachers’ opportunities for growth and providing them with the support they need to be successful.

Professional development
Table 3

Using
Value-Added
Data to Support
All Teachers:
Frank P. Brown
Elementary

At Frank P. Brown Elementary in Crossville, data are used to continually inform
teacher support and improvement efforts. When TVAAS data indicate that a
teacher is struggling in a certain subject area or with a certain group of students,
school leaders will ask an instructional coach to spend time in the classroom
with that teacher. Instructional coaches will observe, offer constructive feedback,
collaborate on lesson planning, and model effective instruction for these teachers.
Additionally, when value-added data show that a teacher is struggling in a particular
subject or with a particular group of students, school leaders will pair them with a
teacher who excels in the same area. The teacher will have a chance to spend a
few days observing his or her colleague, learning from their instructional practices
and classroom management style. At Frank P. Brown, teachers are given the
opportunity to watch best practices in action and are provided with the resources
they need to improve upon their own practices.24

1207 18th Avenue South, Suite 326, Nashville, TN 37212 — tel [phone] — fax [phone] — www.tnscore.org

TVAAS measures provide states and districts with data that could inform investments in professional development opportunities
that more effectively align with their teachers’ greatest needs.27 For example, the state’s TVAAS data indicate that students in
grades 3-8 made little growth in reading over the last few years.28 For this reason in 2013-2014, the Tennessee Department of
Education invested in professional development opportunities for teachers in reading intervention.

Teacher preparation
As TVAAS is more widely implemented, it can be used to track teacher preparation program g