Op-Ed: PED Needs to Include Stakeholders to Implement Effective Teacher Evaluations
March 27, 2015
Letter Submitted by Senator John Sapien (D-9- Bernalillo & Sandoval)
Santa Fe, NM – Throughout the entire 2014 interim, the Legislative Education Study Committee heard from educators, parents, and school administrators about how the current teacher evaluation system, based on a Value-Added Model (VAM), created an unsound formula for gauging teacher effectiveness. The VAM is the current evaluation method used to measure teacher effectiveness in New Mexico, set forth in rule by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) in April 2012. This model measures the teacher’s contribution to student growth in a given year by comparing current tests scores with test scores of the same students in previous years.
In New Mexico, under the VAM, 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation is based on how well the teacher’s students do on standardized tests. This can pose major problems, especially considering the ongoing dialogue among leading statisticians and educators from across the country that VAMs, in general, are inequitable in assessing our educators. PED has not provided an objective and reliable review of the VAM to determine its validity or reliability. Additionally, by the PED putting VAM into rule, it has excluded the legislative process. This process includes the input of legislators, teachers, students, parents, and specialists equipped to provide peer review of New Mexico’s VAM.
This issue prompted legislators from both sides of the aisle to introduce bills based on logical solutions that would address concerns and seek compromise from all stakeholders.
As the Senate Education Committee Chair, tackling this issue during the 2015 session was a top priority for me. I committed to educators repeatedly that I would not let politics dictate what is best for the education of our children. As I began reviewing various education bills introduced this session, I was not surprised to find that many of them attempted to create various solutions to the overwhelming concerns about the VAM. Many bills were aimed at gathering data to present legislation that would give educators the ability to be evaluated fairly and with accuracy because the VAM is untested. We had to safeguard from codifying the current PED rule while seeking a stable bill that was inclusive and supportive of educators, students and communities. Unfortunately, as the legislative session drew to a close, no equitable compromise could be reached in time to land on the Governor’s desk for signature.
The session has now ended and we still remain tethered to a flawed system of evaluation for our educators. Our option now is to continue seeking common ground with the PED as long as they are using this system, until the next legislative session. PED Secretary Skandera has the opportunity to rise above the political rhetoric of the day. She can choose to establish policies that are inclusive and sound. The fact that the current teacher evaluation system includes a 50 percent basis on student assessment test results is problematic. Compared to other states, which are using the VAM to evaluate teachers, New Mexico’s student assessment test percentage is the highest in the nation. PED Sec. Skandera should listen to administrators and educators, who have all suggested this percentage be lowered and replaced with a higher emphasis on classroom observation by superintendants and principals.
Our students and educators deserve good policies that reinforce the professionalism of teaching and the high performance goals we set for students. If the PED insists on using a VAM-based system, then we must demand they use an evaluation system that is based on quantifiable formulas that prove effective. Teacher evaluation models should be validated, reflect reliability and acceptable by all as an effective tool to raise New Mexico’s education system to the highest level. The PED needs to include stakeholders in this conversation, no excuses.
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