Exhibit 1.4.i
1
Exhibit 1.4.i Data Collected by States on Effectiveness of Graduates in Schools
Précis:
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The principal program at the University of Cincinnati is national in scope and includes a strong distance learning
program.
Data specific to Ohio indicates that individuals receiving Licensees from the University of Cincinnati are frequently
not working as principals or assistant principals. Those who are employed in those roles are working in a wide
range of district typographies.
There is a full range of school effectiveness ranking among schools served by University of Cincinnati graduates
who are employed in public schools in Ohio.
About a third of the individuals who receive their Ohio principal license also request a license from another state.
On November 1, 2011, state university deans and their representatives requested the value added data for
graduates of their principal licensure programs. In response to this request, a representative of the Ohio
Board of Regents provided data from both the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Educational
Management Information System, to match graduates with any principal job held at public schools in Ohio.
These graduates were then matched up with any Value Added data at the school. Not all schools receive value
added data (only schools that test students in grades 3-8 in reading and math will get a score). Above indicates
over a year’s worth of growth, met indicates one year of progress achieved, below indicates less than one year
of growth achieved. The licensees were validated by faculty and licensure evidence here at the University of
Cincinnati, so we can safely say that these are indeed our candidates.
Value added as a measure of these principals’ effectiveness is questionable. Most of the individuals hold the
position of assistant principal, and may not have worked in the school long enough to have any impact. In
addition, the use of value added assessment, though popular in the media, has been questioned. The Economic
Policy Institute at Stanford University recently convened a group of authors who reported:
“ VAM’s [value added measures] instability can result from differences in the characteristics of
students assigned to particular teachers in a particular year, from small samples of students
(made even less representative in schools serving disadvantaged students by high rates of
student mobility), from other influences on student learning both inside and outside school, and
from tests that are poorly lined up with the curriculum teachers are expected to cover, or that
do not measure the full range of achievement of students in the class. For these and other
reasons, the research community has cautioned against the heavy reliance on test scores, even
when sophisticated VAM methods are used, for high stakes decisions such as pay, evaluation, or
tenure. For instance, the Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council of
the National Academy of Sciences stated, …VAM estimates of teacher effectiveness should not
be used to make operational decisions because such estimates are far too unstable to be
considered fair or reliable.” (EPI Briefing Paper #278, p. 2)
The data do, however, provide descriptive information about our candidates and their placements. The amount
of data is limited, however, in that only Ohio Public School information is available and not all schools have a
calculated value added measure. The data provided are summarized in table form here:
Exhibit 1.4.i
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Placement Status of Principal Licensees 2008-2010
Indicator
2008 2009 2010
Number licensed
61
112
162
Number of principals
1
5
13
Number of assistant principals
12
18
27
1
2
2
6
1
3
1
5
1
1
District Typography
Community schools (charter schools)
Major urban very high poverty
1
Rural/agricultural-high poverty, low median income
Rural/agricultural-small student population, low poverty, low to
moderate median income
1
Rural/Small Town- moderate to high median income
Urban/suburban-high median income
4
8
11
Urban/suburban-very high median income, very low poverty
3
3
5
Urban-low median income, high poverty
3
4
5
County wide school
1
1
1
Excellent
4
11
18
Effective
6
6
14
Continuous Improvement
1
1
2
School Rating
2
2
1
1
1
Below
3
4
5
Met
2
4
12
Above
4
6
5
Academic Watch
Academic Emergency
Expected Growth Designation
These data do provide some insights into our graduates. In that it is available as a distance learning option, the
range of district typography is not surprising. Though the school ratings tend to be effective or excellent, there
was no real consistency in schools meeting the expected growth designation. Perhaps the most interest
evidence, however, is the number licensed and the number who subsequently obtain positions as principals or
assistant principals.
The data provided, however, are only related to Ohio licenses and program completers hired in Ohio public
schools. This program has a national focus, and is provided in an asynchronous distance learning format. During
the period of this data (licensees 2008-2011), 58 of the program completers were out-of-state students. Due to
the rigorous Ohio teacher standards, there is reciprocity of Ohio principal licenses with more than 40 states. The
following chart adds information in terms of the number of individuals who reside outside of Ohio and the
number of completers requesting out of state licenses.
Exhibit 1.4.i
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Limitations of the Data There are several limitations of this data. First, the program is nationally available, and
data are only available for individuals working in public schools in Ohio. In addition, linkages of assistant
principal or principal performance and expected growth designation may not be truly indicative of administer
performance. Evidence related to completers who are outside of Ohio and the number of out-of-state license
requests provides some insight into program outcomes.
References
Baker, E. L., Barton, P. E., Darling-Hammond, L., Haertel, E., Ladd, H. F., Linn, R., Ravitch, D., Rothstein, R.,
Shavelson, R. J. & Shepard, L. A. Problems with the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers. Palo
Alta, CA: Stanford University Economic Policy Institute.