Recently New York city published the results of a three year study on teacher’s scores. The scores are based on the value-add mentality. This is the idea that a teacher can influence a student in their class and the measurement of this value is tracked by how well a student does on tests in the years following having had that teacher in class. From the perspective of someone who works in an industry that tries very very hard to measure the intangibles, I think this is a very clever method of determining impact.
Predictably the teachers and the teacher unions are objecting. And the range of reasons is fascinating.