Beyond the Test: Why Teacher Impact Can’t Be Measured by Scores
The essence of this discourse revolves around the assertion that the impact of educators cannot be encapsulated solely by standardized test scores. Mr. Funky Teacher, Nicholas Kleve, draws upon the insightful commentary of Dr. Brad Johnson and the extensive research conducted by the RAND Corporation in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, both of which illuminate the inadequacies of test-based evaluations in truly reflecting teacher effectiveness. This episode delves into the profound significance of relationships, creativity, and authentic connections in the educational milieu—elements that defy quantification by mere numerical data. We endeavor to challenge prevailing narratives that equate teacher worth with test results, advocating instead for a paradigm that recognizes the multifaceted nature of teaching and learning. Ultimately, we aspire to foster an environment where educational success is defined by student growth, creativity, and the nurturing of a sense of belonging, rather than by mere adherence to standardized metrics.
In a critical examination of the contemporary educational landscape, Nicholas Kleve, also known as Mr. Funky Teacher, challenges the prevailing reliance on standardized test scores as a barometer for teacher effectiveness. Citing a significant post by Dr. Brad Johnson, accompanied by research from the RAND Corporation, Kleve reveals the stark reality that after extensive financial investment—amounting to nearly $600 million—into test-based evaluation systems, there remains no substantial evidence to suggest improvements in either student achievement or teacher quality. This revelation serves as a poignant reminder that the true impact of educators is often invisible to metrics and statistics. Instead, Kleve emphasizes the importance of the intangible aspects of teaching—such as building rapport, instilling creativity, and fostering trust—which are paramount in creating an enriching learning environment. He advocates for a reconceptualization of success in education, one that recognizes the necessity of emotional intelligence, authentic learning, and the development of soft skills as critical components of student growth that cannot be quantified by mere test scores.
Takeaways:
- Standardized testing fails to capture the true essence of teaching, which involves relationships and creativity.
- The significant investment in test-based evaluation did not yield measurable improvements in student success or teacher effectiveness.
- Effective teaching should be evaluated based on student growth and authentic learning experiences, not mere numerical scores.
- Dr. Brad Johnson's insights emphasize that the heart of education lies beyond quantifiable metrics.
- Creativity, emotional connection, and trust are essential components that foster an effective learning environment.
- We must redefine success in education to encompass confidence, kindness, and creativity rather than solely correctness.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Be a Funky Teacher
- Dr. Brad Johnson
- Gates Foundation
- RAND Corporation
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Transcript
Yeah, he's Mr. Funky.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Mr. Funky Teacher inspires greatness, makes you feel good.
Speaker A:Like your favorite playlist.
Speaker A:Keeping that fresh and funky.
Speaker A:Yes, he does.
Speaker A:He got some funky cool ideas to share for all you teachers.
Speaker A:He can empower others, students and teachers.
Speaker A:It's all about hard work and creativity.
Speaker A:He brings out the kindness in everyone.
Speaker A:He's got the passion to teach.
Speaker A:You hear it when he speaks.
Speaker A:He knows how to build strong relationships.
Speaker A:If you're seeking the best bunkiest, he is it.
Speaker A:He will empower you to improve.
Speaker A:He'll be helping others and loving it too.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.
Speaker B:I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.
Speaker B:Welcome back everyone.
Speaker B:Today's episode is beyond the test.
Speaker B:Why Teacher impact Can't be measured by scores.
Speaker B:I'm actually going to reference a Dr. Brad Johnson post on social media that sparked the interest in this episode today.
Speaker B:But before we get into it, let's talk about three things that I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:First thing that I'm thankful for is warm days in November.
Speaker B:That unexpected bit of sunshine reminds us that not everything y' all follows a script.
Speaker B:It doesn't just like learning.
Speaker B:Second thing that I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:Time to sleep in.
Speaker B:I got to sleep in.
Speaker B:There was one morning over the weekend and I got to sleep in a little bit.
Speaker B:And that's it's a slow, a slow morning, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:It can remind teachers that rest and clarity can help us see what really matters.
Speaker B:Third thing that I'm thankful for.
Speaker B:Doctors and urgent care.
Speaker B:Now, my daughter needed to see a doctor over the weekend and I'm so thankful for those who care for others.
Speaker B:It's a reminder that service professions can't be graded on a scale.
Speaker B:Their impact shows up in compassion, not numbers.
Speaker B:Now let's get into the main topic of this episode, beyond the test.
Speaker B:Why teacher impact can't be measured by test scores.
Speaker B:First off, I want to talk about Dr. Brad Johnson.
Speaker B:Yeah, this Dr. Brad Johnson call out.
Speaker B:He is a nationally recognized educator, author and leadership expert.
Speaker B:He writes often about teacher morale and school culture.
Speaker B:And he actually had a post that on social media that pointed out that after $600 million spent on test based evaluation reforms, there was no measurable gain in student achieve or teacher quality that he was referencing.
Speaker B:And this message really hits home because it confirms what teachers already knew.
Speaker B:That data doesn't define dedication.
Speaker B:Now, Dr. Johnson is known for highlighting the human side of leadership and reminding educators that maybe the problem isn't the teachers, it's the system.
Speaker B:And so when someone like Brad Johnson who's both research minded and teacher hearted, says it's time to rethink how we measure effectiveness, I think it's worth listening to y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:So let's talk about the Gates foundation and RAND and what really happened.
Speaker B: So late: Speaker B:And so they created this measure of effective teaching project.
Speaker B:It's the the MET project involving over 3,000 teachers across seven large districts Denver, Memphis, Hillborough County, Florida and and and a few others.
Speaker B:Now the goal here was to develop a fair research based evaluation system combining student test scores like a value added looking at value added models, administrator observations of teacher practices and student surveys about classroom climate and engagement.
Speaker B:The Gates foundation funded the project.
Speaker B:It was between 575 to 600 million dollars.
Speaker B:And the Rand Corporation was the independent researcher hired to collect and analyze all the data to see if these new systems actually improved teaching and teaching or learning.
Speaker B:Now after years of data collection and testing RAND released its final findings that there was no evidence that test based teacher evaluation systems led to meaningful gains in student performance.
Speaker B:So in plain terms even with the funding, the math and the momentum, it didn't work y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:And so here's the connection that's explained Gates.
Speaker B:Once again Gates.
Speaker B:They, they.
Speaker B:They were the funder and the visionary behind the project.
Speaker B:RAND were the independent and an analysis they they did the independent analysis who evaluated the results y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:And so outcome no measurable impact and student or teacher quality.
Speaker B:And and so Dr. Brad Johnson he, he revived this conversation recently to, to remind educators that even when billions of data points are analyzed the magic of teaching still comes from connection not computation y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:Isn't that interesting.
Speaker B:The so there are some.
Speaker B:Let's look at the flaw in score based systems Tests measure recall not relationships y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:They can't capture creativity, humor or heart.
Speaker B:They they ignore the social emotional skills and and belonging and and reducing teachers to metrics erases it's art and the soul of teaching y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:And the the Dan so there's there's damage of of data pressure y'.
Speaker B:All that when we think about teaching to the test it shrinks the curiosity and kills risk taking by students.
Speaker B:Students see learning as a really as a grade instead of a journey and we want to see, we want students to see Learning as a journey.
Speaker B:We want teachers to see teaching as a journey as well.
Speaker B:And teachers absorb the stress.
Speaker B:Creativity drops, burnout rises.
Speaker B:Communities mistakenly tie worth to scores.
Speaker B:Student worth, teacher worth.
Speaker B:It's tied to scores.
Speaker B:It's, it's defeating y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:And let's talk about what really, what actually builds achievement.
Speaker B:Relationships build achievement.
Speaker B:Feeling seen and valued fuels motivation.
Speaker B:Belonging builds achievement.
Speaker B:Safe spaces build bravery and persistence in the classroom.
Speaker B:Teacher autonomy builds achievement, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:Trust unlocks innovation.
Speaker B:And we want innovation to be taking place in the classroom.
Speaker B:Innovation has to be happening in the classroom to truly impact student learning.
Speaker B:Purpose builds achievement.
Speaker B:Real world connection makes learning stick, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:Those so called soft skills are actually the strongest things that build achievement.
Speaker B:And so we have to look at redefining success.
Speaker B:Success is confidence, creativity and kindness, not just correctness and thinking about how can we, we, we, we track growth over time.
Speaker B:Not just a one day snapshot or just a small little glimpse into the classroom with, with a one or two day snapshot, right?
Speaker B:And we have to celebrate progress over process.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:We can't look at perfection, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:We can't.
Speaker B:So I think there's in, in what Dr. Johnson brought up with his post and, and bringing this, this research back up that about what was found.
Speaker B:I think there's some calls to action for teacher leaders and, and parents and communities.
Speaker B:First off, teachers, the call to action to teachers is keep your student notes, your, your projects and your, your stories as, as proof of impact, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:For leaders, we have to balance data with dialogue.
Speaker B:Observe humanity, not just performance, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:And then parents and communities, parents and communities, we have to support policies that value learning over labeling, truly.
Speaker B:And so with a reflective closing here, Dr. Brad Johnson reminds us and Rand provided that the heart of education can't be scored or standardized.
Speaker B:You can't measure.
Speaker B:You are able to.
Speaker B:You can measure a test, but you can't measure the moment a student believes in themselves for the first time.
Speaker B:Keep teaching like that's the goal, y'.
Speaker B:All.
Speaker B:I hope you found this episode valuable.
Speaker B:If you did jump on over to Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to your podcast episodes and hit me up with a five star review and let me know what you think.
Speaker B:And I hope, I hope that this affirms some of the funky teachers out there.
Speaker B:I hope this affirms all the funky teachers out there that what you are doing matters.
Speaker B:That sure, data collecting matters.
Speaker B:You know, there is some valid, there is some valid impact when we do testing in the classroom, but some of these standardized tests that, that we're pointing at teacher value and student value, that it's just the, the true data just doesn't back up that, that it's truly impacting students in the way that society thinks that it should or could.
Speaker B:And I think it's time to take even a closer look at that and to remind educators of their worth.
Speaker B:Thank you, Dr. Brad Johnson, for reminding us of this.
Speaker B:I am thankful for that post.
Speaker B:Seeing that post come through my feed was a great reminder, and it's something that I absolutely wanted to talk about in the podcast.
Speaker B:And maybe I'll dig in even deeper in future episodes.
Speaker B:So as you go into your day, y', all, I want y' all to remember to inspire greatness in young people.
Speaker B:And don't forget to be a funky teacher.
Speaker B:Bye now.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Funky Teacher, yeah.
Speaker A:He's Mr. Bunky Teacher, yeah, yeah, yeah.
