Transforming Tenure: Using Value-Added Modeling to Identify Ineffective Teachers

Public school teachers in the United States are famously difficult to dismiss: after three years, most receive tenure—after a brief, subjective evaluation process where nearly none receive negative ratings, notes Marcus Winters in this Manhattan Institute report. He suggests an alternative: using value-added modeling to generate objective data on how each teacher performs, and use that data as part of teacher evaluations. Winters analyzes data from Florida public schools to show that a VAM score in a teacher’s third year is a good predictor of that teacher’s success in his or her fifth year. He then addresses the most effective ways to use VAM in tenure reform.