Statement by Education Commissioner Dr. Eric J. Smith Regarding full approval of Florida’s Value Added Student Growth Model
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Statement by Education Commissioner Dr. Eric J. Smith Regarding full approval of Florida’s Value Added Student Growth Model
“This week, I gave my full approval of the Race to the Top Student Growth Implementation Committee’s (SGIC) recommended value added student growth model. I was very pleased with the Committee’s work and felt their recommended model would be able to fairly and accurately measure a teacher’s performance as it relates to the academic improvement of his or her students.“This fully independent committee, consisting of teachers, principals, parents, business leaders and other education stakeholders, was established to help inform the process of creating a growth model for school districts to use as they develop new teacher and principal evaluation systems. The SGIC met repeatedly over the last several months to study different types of models, discuss variables for those models and review the types of results that could be expected with each approach.
“Based on the SGIC’s deliberations, a model was recommended that reflects a wide variety of stakeholder opinions and input. Some notable variables the Committee chose to incorporate in the model include prior years of achievement scores, Students with Disabilities status, English Language Learner status, student attendance and a school component factor, just to name a few. A full summary of their recommendations, taped footage of each meeting and a list of the Committee’s members can be found on the SGIC’s webpage.
“The independent work of the SGIC has proven invaluable in the creation of a student growth model that Florida can truly call its own, and I cannot thank them enough for their time and commitment to this important effort. I am very pleased with their open and thoughtful approach to this process and am confident that this new model will allow us to recognize and reward our most effective educators and improve the academic outcomes of our students.”