Value Added Teacher Preparation Assessment: Overview of 2007-08 Study

The Louisiana Board of Regents is the first in the nation to publicly use a performance model based upon the achievement of students in grades 4-9 as one of several measures to examine the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs. The State has supported the development and implementation of a Value Added Teacher Preparation Assessment Model that utilizes data from all school districts in the state and all 22 public and private teacher preparation programs. This has been a collaborative effort involving the Louisiana Board of Regents, Office of the Governor, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Louisiana Department of Education. The Value Added Teacher Preparation Assessment developed for Louisiana 1) models typical student achievement based on prior achievement, demographics, and attendance, 2) assesses actual student achievement, and 3) calculates effect estimates that identify the degree to which students taught by new teachers met achievement of similar students taught by experienced teachers. This report provides an overview of the 2007-08 Value Added Teacher Preparation Assessment. Five major findings include: (1) Some teacher preparation programs are preparing new teachers whose teaching effectiveness is equivalent to experienced certified teachers; (2) Varying levels of effectiveness exist within teacher preparation programs and across teacher preparation programs; (3) The mean ACT scores of graduates in the programs in this assessment are very similar and as a result do not explain differences in teacher preparation program effectiveness; (4) ACT mathematics scores of individual teachers are modest predictors of teacher effectiveness in mathematics; and (5) Certified teachers are more effective than teachers who are not certified to teach the content.