Anthony Milanowski

The Relationship Between Teacher Performance Evaluation Scores and Student Achievement: Evidence From Cincinnati

In this article, I present the results of an analysis of the relationship between teacher evaluation scores and student achievement on district and state tests in reading, mathematics, and science in a large Midwestern U.S. school district. Within a value-added framework, I correlated the difference between predicted and actual student achievement in science, mathematics, and reading for students in Grades 3 through 8 with teacher evaluation ratings. Small to moderate positive correlationships were found for most grades in each subject tested. When these correlationships were combined across grades within subjects, the average correlationships were. 27 for science,. 32 for reading, and. 43 for mathematics. These results show that scores from a rigorous teacher evaluation system can be substantially related to student achievement and provide criterion-related validity evidence for the use of the performance evaluation scores as the basis for a performance-based pay system or other decisions with consequences for teachers.

Examining the Relationship between Teacher Evaluation and Student Assessment Results in Washoe County.

In this article, we describe findings from an analysis of the relationship between scores on a standards-based teacher evaluation system modeled on the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996) and student achievement measures in a large Western school district. We apply multilevel statistical modeling to study the relationship between the evaluation scores and state and district tests of reading, mathematics, and a composite measure of reading and mathematics. Using a value-added framework, the teacher evaluation scores were included at the 2nd level, or teacher level, of the model when other student and teacher-level characteristics were controlled. This study provided some initial evidence of a positive association between teacher performance, as measured by the evaluation system, and student achievement. The coefficients representing the effects of teacher performance on student achievement were positive and were statistically significant in 4 of 9 grade-test combinations studied.

Teacher Motivation and School-Based Performance Awards

This article summarizes findings from a series of research studies on the motivational effects of school-based performance award programs on teachers in schools in Kentucky and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) school district. Interviews and survey data were collected between 1995 and 1998. The research was framed by expectancy and goal-setting theories. The research findings suggest that teachers associate a variety of positive and negative outcomes with the programs, including the bonus. Teachers expressed a relatively high level of commitment to program goals. Teacher expectancy was an important predictor of school success, and expectancy was related to the presence of enabling conditions, prior success, and perceived fairness of the program. The findings suggest that program designers need to focus on setting realistic goals, providing enabling conditions for success, maximizing perceptions that achieving the goals will lead to positive outcomes, and minimizing stress reactions.

Teacher Knowledge and Skill Assessments and Teacher Compensation: An Overview of Measurement and Linkage Issues

This article summarizes the conclusions that the authors have drawn about the measurement quality and potential for linkage with teacher pay of three sets of teacher assessments—those developed or being developed by the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, the Educational Testing Service, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. To investigate the feasibility of using these assessments as a framework for a knowledge- and skill-based pay system, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education commissioned a set of papers for a conference in September 1997 on the measurement issues involved in assessing teaching practice to standards and linking these assessments to pay for knowledge and skills. The resulting papers, revised and published as articles in this journal, show that this approach is promising but that in some cases additional research on the measurement quality of the assessments is needed.

Assessing the Promise of Standards-Based Performance Evaluation for Principals: Results from a Randomized Trial

Principals (N = 76) in a large western U.S. school district were randomly assigned to be evaluated using either a new standards-based system or to continue with the old system. It was hypothesized that principals evaluated with the new system would report clearer performance expectations, better feedback, greater fairness and system satisfaction, and spending more effort on priorities emphasized in the new system. Surveys and interviews were used to assess these perceptions. The hypotheses about feedback and satisfaction were supported. The study also revealed several issues with implementing standards-based evaluation, including competition with many other messages that define performance expectations for principals.