A Florida Teacher Wrongfully Terminated? Alleged (Mis)Uses of Teacher-Level Value-Added Model Data for High-Stakes Personnel Decisions

• In Event: Multiple Perspectives on Accountability in Schools

Abstract

Until recently, legal challenges to using value-added models (VAMs) for high-stakes teacher employment decisions have been unsuccessful, especially in Florida. While, for example, teacher plaintiffs won a significant, precedent-setting case in Houston in 2017, prior and beyond, multiple teachers throughout Florida have been terminated given Florida Statute §1012.33/4. One Florida teacher’s case is of particular interest, though, in that this teacher continues to fight to be repositioned into this teacher’s prior post, primarily arguing that the VAM data used for this teacher’s termination were reliable, albeit invalid, biased, and unfair. The purpose of this case study, accordingly, was to explore this unique, albeit very complicated case, to help the Court determine whether this termination decision was empirically and legally justifiable.

Author

• Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Arizona State University