employment
Paying Teachers for Student Test Scores Damages Schools and Undermines Learning
Posted November 19th, 2009 by fairtest(note - for a PDF formatted version of this fact sheet click here)
Independent researchers have found that evaluating and paying teachers for test scores is either damaging or irrelevant to improved learning.* Unfortunately, even evidence of harm does not seem to affect the growing popularity of such schemes. Policymakers, including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, should stop promoting this failed approach.
Employment Testing
FairTest's creation was catalyzed by the settlement of the landmark "Golden Rule" lawsuit which charged that the insurance agent licensing exam made by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) was racially biased and not job related.
Employment testing has been one of FairTest's three areas of concern (along with K-12 and university testing) since the very beginning.
Employment Testing
FairTest's creation was catalyzed by the settlement of the landmark "Golden Rule" lawsuit which charged that the insurance agent licensing exam made by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) was racially biased and not job related.
Employment testing has been one of FairTest's three areas of concern (along with K-12 and university testing) since the very beginning.
Teacher Testing
Accompanying the increased focus on student testing in the schools, some states, including Massachusetts, are rushing to test prospective and currently employed teachers. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to support the claim that standardized tests predict who will be a good teacher. The teacher tests in Massachusetts and New York were developed by National Evaluation Systems, the same company that created the controversial and doomed Alabama teacher test more than ten years ago.
