A research center at the University of Wisconsin has been brought into focus for its studies regarding education and effectiveness of teaching within the Chicago Public School system.
Rob Meyer, director of the Value Added Research Center, said evaluating teacher and school effectiveness is a state and national issue that has made its way into research at VARC.
“We are researching how schools can add value to education by measuring the effectiveness of all the aspects that factor into student outcomes,” Meyer said.
Meyer said VARC has worked closely with the Chicago Public Schools for several years to develop new methods of evaluating teachers.
According to Meyer, VARC has been working with Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union to implement the new state law using findings from their research on the best ways to evaluate teachers.
Meyer said the origins of the Value Added system came from VARC work in Milwaukee and added the methods in Chicago have grown out of their work there.
VARC studies in Chicago have not been affected by the strikes, Meyer added.
Meyer said the teacher strikes in Chicago were the result of a variety of grievances between the Chicago public schools and the Chicago Teachers Union.
Specifically, Meyer said the new Illinois state law requiring all districts to incorporate a new teacher evaluation system caused considerable concern.
Meyer said the controversy has to do with the role of teacher accountability and assessments in calculating the effectiveness of teachers and schools.
He also said the data they collect takes into account many different factors they believe should go into the evaluation of teachers and schools. This includes standardized test scores, demographics of the area, types of students being taught and where students stand when they first enter the school, he added.
“Value added research is designed to get closer to the idea of what teachers are actually doing in schools,” Meyer said.
Meyer said the effect of this work on UW furthers the Wisconsin Idea.
VARC Director of Technical Analysis and Research Andrew Rice said they are a nationally known research organization that works with national non-profit organizations, federal and state governments, districts groups and institutions of higher education.
Rice said VARC researchers collect data from the education sector and use it to analyze educational policy and improve professional development.
“We hope to enhance the mission of UW-Madison by using our knowledge to help train the next generation of education policy makers in technical matters and furthering UW-Madison’s already great reputation as a central player in education and policy research,” Rice said.
While the spotlight is currently on work VARC is furthering in Chicago, Rice said the organization has also been working to shape education policy in other parts of the country.
As an example, Rice said VARC is using its research to help schools in Los Angeles, California track student progress and make sure students are not falling behind. They are working with the Los Angeles Unified School district to help produce a measure called ‘Academic Growth Over Time,’ he said.
