Value added evaluation found accurate!

I have expressed considerable support to the Value added approach to teacher evaluation (teachers are judged by students’ test results compared with predicted scores based on a student’s test history) but have been waiting for additional confirmation of its accuracy.
A preliminary report from The Gates Foundation on effective teaching indicates that value added scores have a direct correlation to teaching in the classroom.
The description of the classroom teaching comes from surveys answered by students in the communities studied.
After comparing the students’ ratings with teachers’ value-added scores, researchers have concluded that there is quite a bit of agreement.
Classrooms where a majority of students said they agreed with the statement, “Our class stays busy and doesn’t waste time,” tended to be led by teachers with high value-added scores, the report said.
The same was true for teachers whose students agreed with the statements, “In this class, we learn to correct our mistakes,” and, “My teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in this class.”
I’m sure opponents of improved accountability will explain away these findings but I hope eventually such reforms will become the norm.
Another bugaboo of mine has been that MCAS and other standardized tests have forced teachers to simply teach to the test and drill the kids on questions they likely would face. My experience has been that the best teachers keep on teaching as they have, and their kids’ scores are very good.
… teachers who incessantly drill their students to prepare for standardized tests tend to have lower value-added learning gains than those who simply work their way methodically through the key concepts of literacy and mathematics.
Teachers whose students agreed with the statement, “We spend a lot of time in this class practicing for the state test,” tended to make smaller gains on those exams than other teachers.
“Teaching to the test makes your students do worse on the tests,” Ms. Phillips said. “It turns out all that ‘drill and kill’ isn’t helpful.”
Quotes from New York Times