Teacher Evaluation in Chicago: Differences in Observation and Value-Added Scores by Teacher, Student, and School Characteristics. Research Report
Author: Jiang, Jennie Y.
Date: 2016-01-00
Type: Reports - Research-practitioner Partnerships
Subjects: Teacher Evaluation,Value Added Models,Teacher Characteristics,Student Characteristics,Institutional Characteristics,Scores,Public School Teachers,Poverty,Urban Schools,Educational Environment,Minority Group Teachers,African American Teachers,Hispanic Americans,Hawaiians,Pacific Islanders,American Indians,Multiracial Persons,Whites,Gender Differences,Teacher Effectiveness

In the fall of 2012, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) instituted a sweeping reform of its teacher evaluation system with the introduction of Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago's Students (REACH). This report finds teachers with the lowest scores on the REACH Students teacher evaluation system are overrepresented in schools serving the most disadvantaged students, while teachers with the highest observation scores are underrepresented in these schools. The study uses data from the 2013-14 school year, which represents the first comprehensive snapshot of evaluation scores for Chicago Public School teachers under the new REACH Students teacher evaluation system. This includes value-added scores based on students' gains on tests, as well as scores from observations of teaching practices in classrooms. It finds 26 percent of teachers with the lowest value-added scores are in schools with the highest concentrations of poverty, while 13 percent are in schools with the lowest concentrations of poverty. The differences in observation scores are more pronounced: 30 percent of the lowest-scoring teachers are found in the highest-poverty schools, while only 9 percent are in schools with the lowest poverty. The report also finds teachers in schools with better organizational and learning climates tend to have higher value-added and observation scores, and these differences remain significant when comparing schools with similar student characteristics, including poverty level. The study also finds that, on average, African American, Latino, and other minority (i.e. Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Native American, and multi-racial), teachers' observation scores are lower than white teachers' observation scores. However, for African American teachers, who are overrepresented in the highest-poverty schools, most of this difference seems to be due to the relationship between observation scores and school characteristics, such as school-level poverty. Other key findings include: (1) There are some differences in teachers' evaluation scores, depending on experience and credentials; (2) Teachers with more experience have higher scores on value-added and observations than new teachers; (3) Differences between teachers with National Board Certification or advanced degrees, compared to those without those credentials, were found only on observation scores, not value added; (4) Male teachers have lower observation and value-added scores than female teachers; and (5) On average, male teachers scored lower than female teachers on observations and slightly lower on value added than their female counterparts.