APS releases test scores broken down by teacher

Gov. Susana Martinez issued an executive order this month, pushing to create a teacher evaluation system that relies heavily on student test scores.

The order creates a working group to tackle the issue, which is being taken up in states and districts across the country.

Against that backdrop, Albuquerque Public Schools has released elementary student scores on last year’s Standards Based Assessment, broken down by teacher. It is the third year APS has released this information, which is now posted at ABQjournal.com.

The data show what percentage of each teacher’s students scored at advanced, proficient, nearing proficient or “beginning step.” The percentages are a combination of scores in reading, math and science.

Although these scores may provide the raw materials for future teacher evaluations, they are a snapshot that does not show whether students improved or how well they were doing at the beginning of the year.

APS Superintendent Winston Brooks said low scores may still reflect excellent teaching, depending on students’ ability levels when they started the year.

“I used to always give my very best teachers the most difficult kids,” Brooks said. “So keeping them level or inching them up just barely may be huge gains that ought to be considered.”

Brooks did say he would be open to evaluating teachers based on the growth of their students over time. APS is holding a conference with New Mexico First on April 26, which will examine this idea.

Martinez’s plan, which is still in the early stages, would likely track individual student growth from one year to the next, as measured by standardized test scores. Teachers would be rewarded for exceptional growth, and teachers who show the lowest effectiveness for three consecutive years would be fired.

Martinez issued the executive order after the failure of House Bill 502, which contained similar provisions.

Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein said teachers support reform of the teacher evaluation system, but said the SBA is not an adequate test for measuring growth. She said the test measures narrow facts instead of broad concepts, which gives teachers incentive to “teach to the test” and narrow their focus.

“We have to think about, do we want the outcomes of our assessment system to be the narrowing or deepening of instruction? If we want it to be the deepening, we have to get off the idea that one test can do that, especially the test that is the cheapest to do,” Bernstein said.

Online To see the elementary student SBA scores by teacher, visit ABQjournal.com and click on “As Seen in the Journal.”