Alternative Student Growth Measures for Teacher Evaluation: Profiles of Early-Adopting Districts (Executive Summary)

This REL Mid-Atlantic study looks at eight districts that have been using alternative measures for teacher evaluations or performance-related compensation systems. This report describes how eight early-adopting school districts are using two types of alternative measures for assessing teacher effectiveness: value-added models that use the results of end-of-course assessments or commercially available tests in statistical growth models instead of typical state assessments, and student learning objectives, which are determined by individual teachers, approved by principals, and used in evaluations that do not involve sophisticated statistical modeling. The districts' experiences can be used by other states and districts to decide whether and how to implement these measures.