Tags
Florida Education Association (FEA) leadership and Florida Teachers are convened in Orlando this weekend.
One of the most important actions that FEA could take, to promote and protect the professional autonomy of teachers, is to mount a legal challenge to the validity of VAM. FEA’s previous attempts to discredit VAM legally in Florida have been unsuccessful. Going after the validity has been proven in a court of law and is winnable – here – and now.
VAM scores are coming in for teachers across the state and it is not pretty.
“Highly Effective” teachers with lousy VAM scores.
Teachers with the highest VAM scores being rated “Effective” and “Ineffective.”
To the Florida Education Association (FEA):
NOW is the time to take up a challenge to the validity of VAM, as Sheri Lederman successfully challenged in a New York court – and won. There is legal precedent and mountains of evidence documented against VAM now.
It could be a big win for teachers and for children!
From Teacher Lucy Oeming Malacos in Manatee County:
“It’s very interesting that last year, based on my vice-principal’s opinion, I barely received an “effective”, after 25 years of “highly effective” at my previous teaching position. Yet, today, I received my VAM score and received the highest possible points (4), which deemed me “highly effective.”
I was observed for total of 2 hours (1 hour sessions twice) by administrators, yet for an entire year of working, my students made extraordinary gains! Yet, other teachers received “highly effective” status by administration, yet their VAM scores indicate “needs improvement” for them!!!!! My initial “walk through” (20 minutes) this year, I was, once again, deemed “needs improvement”…..
With all that said, I have now resigned from teaching. I can no longer deal with the hypocrisy.”
Public education cannot afford to lose one more valuable and highly qualified teacher to this insanity.
__________
Watch this video where current FEA Secretary-Treasurer, Luke Flynt explains the ridiculousness of VAM to the Indian River County School Board:
Relevant articles about the lederman case:
May 12, 2016: New York court decision throws out use of ‘VAM’ for teacher evaluations…
Daniel Katz on the Meaning of Sheri Lederman’s Victory in Court Against VAM