Gates Analysis Offers Clues to Identification of Teacher Effectiveness

“Value added” gauges based on growth in student test scores and students’ perceptions of their teachers both hold promise as components of a system for identifying and promoting teacher effectiveness, according to preliminary findings from the first year of a major study.

The analysis , released last month by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shows that teachers’ value-added histories were among the strongest predictors of how they would perform in other classrooms or school years—as were students’ perceptions of their teachers’ ability to maintain order and provide challenging lessons.

The findings are part of the Seattle-based foundation’s $45 million Measure of Effective Teaching study , which seeks to identify accurate measures of superior teaching. ( "Multi-City Study Eyes Best Gauges of Good Teaching," ...