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Abstract
This qualitative study aimed to research the perspectives of four teachers who teach low-scoring populations of students traditionally. The research questions focused on job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and retention in education about Value-Added Model scores in their evaluations. The secondary purpose was for the teachers to recommend authentic assessment of student growth which is weighted 33% of teacher evaluations. I conducted a series of three open-ended interviews with each of the four participants. The interviews were designed to allow rich data to be collected.
The significant findings have been discovered using the constant comparative method. The analysis revealed that the teacher’s perceptions of VAM scores were not in their control, nor did the teachers understand how the score is calculated; however, it was a stress point in the teaching environment.
The recommendations for alternative measurement of student achievement had a common thread of a baseline assessment and a learning gain assessment of the students the teachers directly taught. The emerging themes concluded that the evaluating administrator had more impact on job satisfaction and self-efficacy than VAM scores. The research questions drove the study, and the analysis discovered trends and emerging themes.