Is TVAAS a Useful Tool to Improve Student Outcomes? Edlinks 10/7

Just because it’s fall break in Memphis doesn’t mean the news stops!  Here are your edlinks for the past few days:

Jane Roberts at the Commercial Appeal does a great piece on how charters that operate outside the ASD in Memphis are disadvantaged because they need to build or lease their own space, which results in less funding that can be spent on students.  David Reaves has brought this issue up before, she reports, and it may be time for action:

Shelby County Schools board member David Reaves believes it’s time for a change in policy. He brought the issue up in June, but no action was taken and the board has not addressed it since.

“If charters are all public schools, they should be allowed to use the buildings for the cost of the deferred maintenance,” he said. “If we have a building we are not using or are going to shut down, I think any public school should be able to use the facility for free, plus maintenance. Taxpayers have already paid for them once.”

Governor Haslam announced this past Thursday that he is going to make raising teacher pay a priority in his administration:

“We’re asking our students to be the fastest improving in the nation in education achievement, and the data is showing that we’re making real progress,” Haslam said. “Teachers are the single most important factor in student achievement, and higher accountability for teachers and proven results should be met with better rewards.”

Jane Roberts also gets a great quote from Allyson Chick, the 2012-13 Tennessee Teacher of the Year about this announcement:

“The stakes are so high and the accountability standards are so high that teachers are working harder than ever before and it’s time teachers get paid for the work they’re doing. Teachers want to be part of the American Dream too, to be able to support their families.”

Andy Spears at Tennessee Education Report posts a summary of a Valerie Strauss article in the washington post arguing that 20 years of the TVAAS system has actually told us very little about student achievement and good teaching.  The article contains a breakdown of proficiency rates at all charters in Tennessee, making it worth a scan even if you don’t have time to read the whole thing.  Their basic argument is that the focus on growth rates helps to mask the continuing inequality inherent in the achievement gap. Expect a post on this sometime in the next few days!