The Rise of Student Growth Portfolio Models in Tennessee
Author: Stone, Zachary
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Growth Models,Portfolios (Background Materials),Teacher Evaluation,Scores,Teacher Improvement,Teacher Participation,Preschool Teachers,Kindergarten,Fine Arts,Art Education,Physical Education,Art Teachers,Physical Education Teachers,Language Teachers,Grade 1,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary Education,Elementary School Students,Preschool Children

Over the last several years, Tennessee has rapidly expanded the use of student growth portfolio models for the purpose of teacher evaluation. Participation, both in the number of districts and teachers, has increased steadily since portfolios were first introduced during the 2011-12 school year, and we expect that participation will continue to grow. The Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation in the spring of 2016 requiring that districts receiving state funding for voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) use the state board-approved student growth portfolio model to evaluate their pre-K and kindergarten teachers. In the 2015-16 school year, almost all Tennessee districts had state-funded VPK, meaning the new legislation will significantly expand the use and overall impact of portfolios. Portfolios provide teachers in non-tested grades and subject areas with the opportunity to receive an individual growth score that is based on their specific contributions to their own students' learning. Having such a score, which in the past was only available to teachers in tested grades and subject areas through the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), ensures evaluation of a larger group of teachers using similar measures and offers teachers a more personalized evaluation experience. In addition, the reflective nature of the portfolio process--in which teachers collect, review, and submit student work samples throughout the school year--is considered a valuable professional learning experience for teachers. This brief provides an overview of student growth portfolio models and the process used for assigning teachers' final growth scores. It then addresses the following questions: (1) What is the alignment between teachers' portfolio scores and their average observation scores?; (2) Are teachers' overall evaluation scores higher or lower if they use portfolios as individual growth measures, rather than relying on school-wide growth measures?; (3) Did participation in portfolios lead to improvements in teaching practices?; and (4) Do teachers who participate in portfolios have more supportive views of the teacher evaluation process? Key findings include the following: (1) Teachers' portfolio scores are well-aligned with their observation scores; (2) Roughly 50 percent of teachers who used a portfolio received a higher growth score than they would have if they had used a school-wide growth measure. About 20 percent of teachers received the same score; (3) Compared to similar teachers, those who used a portfolio had slightly higher observation scores in the year they participated. Portfolio users saw the greatest improvement on the thinking, activities and materials, and problem solving indicators; and (4) Teachers who used a portfolio did not have markedly different perceptions of the teacher evaluation process than teachers who were eligible but did not use portfolio. Teachers on the whole reported that portfolios were more appropriate and more understandable as part of their evaluation than any other measure, aside from observation.