NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The state's largest teachers union has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's use of standardized test scores to evaluate teachers.
The TEA has long argued that the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, or TVAAS data, shouldn't be relied upon because it's a statistical estimate and could lead to a flawed evaluation of a teacher.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday in Nashville, says more than half of the public school teachers in Tennessee receive evaluations that are based substantially on the standardized test scores of students in subjects they don’t teach. Tennessee Education Association President Barbara Gray wants the practice stopped.
“The more TEA digs into the methodology, the more its flaws and inaccuracy come to light, and it’s unfair to tie a teachers evaluation to an estimate that doesn’t measure what really matters.
Last year, state lawmakers passed legislation that prohibits standardized test scores from being tied to teacher licensing. Gov. Bill Haslam signed the measure.