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Florida's teachers are not alone. The value added measure concerns teachers in Tennessee as well.

Read the entire article and post a comment on commercialappeal.com.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/...formula-raises/

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Grading our Teachers: Value-added formula raises alarm for some
Students' test-score growth could mean pass or fail for educators

By Sarah Garland, The Hechinger Report
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Posted February 6, 2012 at midnight

To close the achievement gap between poor and affluent students in Tennessee, some students may need to learn at double the rate of their high-performing peers, according to Tennessee Department of Education materials.

But this goal could create a potential Catch-22 for teachers, who for the first time this year will be measured on whether their students make large gains on standardized tests, as determined by the controversial statistical formula known among researchers as "value-added modeling."

"There's something suspicious about that formula," said Keith Williams, president of the Memphis Education Association, the local teachers union. "You're using something that has some real flaws." ...