Researchers increasingly believe that student surveys can provide important insights into a teacher’s effectiveness. When the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released findings from their Measures of Effective Teaching, or MET, Project last year, they found that student feedback was a far better predictor of a teacher’s performance than more traditional indicators of success like whether a teacher had a master’s degree or not. The mounting evidence on the importance of student surveys has been shaping policy at the state and local level too. Still, this important source of information—the student—has yet to find its full voice.
Join us for a conversation on the evolving value and use of the student voice. At the event the Center for American Progress will also release state-by-state data from one of the richest sources of national student survey data—the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. We conducted a detailed analysis of the NAEP background surveys and will release data on student-reported insights into the rigor of their classes and the degree to which they’re engaged in rigorous learning activities.
The event’s speakers are leading thinkers on the issue of student feedback. Rob Ramsdell, vice president of Cambridge Education, will discuss the Tripod Project’s work with schools and districts to analyze data from student surveys to assess student engagement, classroom learning conditions, teacher practices, and school climate. CAP Senior Fellow Ulrich Boser will share findings from his paper on the NAEP background surveys. We will be joined by a distinguished panel including William Hileman of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and Pittsburgh King Elementary School teacher Tiffany Francis. The Pittsburgh Public School system is a participant in the MET project to develop and test rigorous measures of teacher effectiveness.
Featured presenters:
Rob Ramsdell, Vice President, Cambridge Education
Ulrich Boser, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Featured panelists:
William Hileman, Vice President, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers
Tiffany Francis, Pittsburgh King Elementary School
Moderator:
Cynthia G. Brown, Vice President for Education, Center for American Progress