Measuring Student Growth in Tennessee: Understanding TVAAS | Page 6

TAKING NOTE

OCTOBER 2014

levels.31 A recent statement by the American Statistical
Association emphasizes that “value-added measures
are only as good as the data fed into them.”32
Recent research on other states’ assessments calls
into question whether current assessments accurately
measure student learning.33 These analyses have found
gaps in alignment between state standards and state
assessments, both in terms of the content covered as
well as in the depth and rigor of testing items.34 These
analyses found that on average, state assessments
cover around 19 percent of the standards’ content in
English language arts and reading and 27 percent of the
standards’ content in math.35 Additionally, these analyses
found that 15 percent of items in math assessments
and 26 percent of items in English language arts and
reading are misaligned due to different levels of depth
and rigor.36 If state assessments are not reflective of
the state standards teachers are required to teach in
their classrooms, value-added measures could be an
inaccurate reflection of a teachers’ ability to effectively
create academic growth for their students.
While the quality of current state assessments indicates
a cause for concern around the accuracy and utility
of the TVAAS measure, it also presents an important
opportunity to select a higher-quality, better aligned
assessment to be implemented with Tennessee’s State
Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics.
As Tennessee begins the assessment selection
process, it should evaluate assessments for alignment
to these standards both in terms of content and rigor.
This shift to a new assessment provides the opportunity
for improved accuracy in the TVAAS measure and, as
a result, improved utility of the information it provides
students, teachers, principals, and district and state
leaders.

A MULTIPLE MEASURES APPROACH:
TVAAS AND TEACHER EVALUATION
Prior to 2010, teacher evaluations in Tennessee relied
only on information collected during formal and informal
observations, which were not required for all teachers
on an annual basis. From these observations, principals
scored teachers on a rubric with general categories
intended to indicate levels of teaching effectiveness.

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While these classroom observations provided teachers
with an opportunity to receive feedback, the quality of
the rubrics used and the infrequency of observations
limited their ability to truly inform teacher support and
improvement practices. Additionally, prior to 2010,
student growth and student achievement data were not
included as components of the teacher evaluation.
With Tennessee’s passage of the First to the Top Act
in 2010, multiple measures of teaching effectiveness
were incorporated into the Tennessee teacher
evaluation. While TVAAS serves as a foundational
component of Tennessee’s teacher evaluation system,
the evaluation incorporates additional measures
of teaching effectiveness to improve the accuracy,
reliability, and utility of the evaluation as a whole. Since
2010, new rubrics for classroom observations have
been implemented that aim to provide teachers with
more detailed and rigorous feedback on their practice.
The teacher evaluation also requires teachers to be
observed multiple times each year.37
While TVAAS provides important information about
teaching effectiveness and insight into what kinds of
students teachers are most effective at teaching, TVAAS
provides teachers with limited information on what they
can do to improve. By balancing the weight of different
measures, the teacher evaluation aims to prevent
teachers from focusing too narrowly on one aspect of
practice. Additionally, providing teachers with feedback
on different areas of practice increases the usefulness of
the evaluation and provides more effective data that can
better inform professional growth opportunities.
For example, while value-added data allow teachers
to identify strengths and opportunities for growth in
certain subject areas or with certain groups of students,
feedback from classroom observations allows teachers
to identify strengths and opportunities for growth in
classroom management, instructional practices, or
lesson planning. When these measures are combined
with additional measures of teaching effectiveness,
teacher evaluations have the potential to provide more
accurate, informative, and complete feedback to
teachers. This information can inform the improvement
and development of support systems for teachers and
increase student access to high-quality teaching.38

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