What Role Should Test Scores Play in Teacher Evaluations?

Legislation that would allow Wisconsin school districts to use standardized test scores as part of a teacher's evaluation is being roundly criticized by area administrators who say the measure won't improve the quality of education.

State Sens. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) are co-sponsoring a bill that would that would remove a number of conditions attached to using results of the Wisconsin Knowledge Concepts Examinations (WKCE) as a way to evaluate teachers.

The bill (SB 95) also allows, for the first time, test scores to be used as a tool in discipline or the nonrenewal of a teacher's contract.

"WKCE, I hope that's not used because it's not valid or reliable," District Administrator Rick Monroe said.

Although the test scores would only be used as part of the teacher evaluation process, the concern of most administrators is fairness. WKCE is given to students in the third, eighth and 10th grades. Monroe asked rhetorically, if this was to be used at the high school, which teachers would be accountable for low scores?

His suggestion is a pre- and post-test given at each grade level. (See Nicolet WKCE results here.)

Mary Jordan Dean, district administrator at the , said test scores should only be used as part of the evaluation process. (See Maple Dale-Indian Hill WKCE results here.)

"If there is a pattern for several years that one particular teacher's scores are lower than the other staff members, this would be an important aspect of discussion," she said. "However, test scores are only one factor of many in ascertaining effective teaching, so to use only them isn't a good teacher assessment process."

"I also am not convinced that WKCE scores are measure of student achievement that should be used," added Rachel Bochler, district administrator. "While WKCE scores provide a broad-based snapshot of how a particular school is performing, they are not necessarily that helpful in determining individual student achievement or teacher success." (See Fox Point-Bayside WKCE results here.)

Darling could not be reched for comment on the measure. However, Olsen, the other co-sponsor, said the bill was prompted by requests from administrators and school board members, according to the Journal Sentinel.

"The issue is that state statutes do not allow student test scores to be used for discipline or suspension,” Olsen said. “You can use them for evaluation. But if you use that evaluation for discipline or removal, then we’ve got a problem.”

"All this is doing is saying that schools can use that data as one of the factors they consider," Olsen said. "Nobody is forcing anybody to use this."

A morale buster?

Monroe says public employees have become scapegoats for political agendas over the last year, and that's not helping teacher morale at Nicolet.

"Public employees in general have been vilified over the last year and I think it's unfortunate that we have become scapegoats for every issue in the state," he said. "We've become political pawns. It does take a toll on people. It's hard for people to ignore that."

Dean echoed Monroe's concerns, saying that using the test scores for teacher evaluations really could hurt morale.

"Teachers are already judged harshly by the public, many times unfairly, and if the test scores are misused, they would be justified in being discouraged," she said.

Boechler believes that this bill is just another piece of the pie, and another target on the backs of educators.

"In the current political climate, there is already a great deal of distrust and a feeling that public education is being targeted by the current administration and supporting legislators and as a result school morale is low," Boechler said. "So, I am not sure about the specific impact of Senate Bill 95 — it is simply one more piece of an agenda that appears to have been pre-determined to a great degree by those outside of the field of education."

A trade: Phy ed for extracurricular sports?

Also folded into the bill is an option for students to receive 1.5 physical education credits if they enroll in an extracurricular sport. This would eliminate the phy ed requirement students have to squish into their schedules, but Nicolet swim coach Dwight Davis said it's not a fair trade.

He said the average season for a single sport lasts between 10 and 12 weeks, while the 1.5 credits amounts to 44 weeks of physical education.

"Is 10 weeks of being in a sport worth 44 weeks of physical education?" Davis asked.

However, the issue isn't just the loss of time being active, it's the loss of variety.  Students who excel at swimming, for example, will continue with their swimming, but might never learn how to hold a badminton racket, hit a softball, or pick up a golf club.

Davis said it's just not a fair trade.

"Learning to accept people with varying abilites, with varying backgrounds from varying cultures, those types of things, you're losing out on that a lot also because you're basically pigeon-holing kids," he said. "Is it really worth these kids losing out on those opportunities?"