Read this: Using VAM of student test scores to measure teacher ed?

Many thanks to Stephen Sawchuk of EdWeek, who has been following this underreported but very important discussion over at the U.S. Department of Education about how to determine the quality of our teacher education programs.

Specifically, the DOE has been in negotiations with a number of stakeholders about the rules for the proposed “TEACH grants for low-income students who commit to teaching in hard-to-staff schools.” Apparently, among the issues was whether to use value-added measures calculations of the standardized test scores of K12 students taught by teachers from a particular teacher education program to determine whether that program could qualify for TEACH grant money for its candidates. Take a closer look at the issues raised in those negotiations.