Stephen Ponisciak was a 2010 First Place winner in the area of Oustanding Planning, Policy, or Management Research from the American Educational Research Association Division H (Research, Evaluation, and Assessment in Schools)

Rob Meyer has been honored with a 2010 Academic Staff Excellence Award in recognition of excellence in research by an independent investigator. Winners were recognized by the Academic Staff Assembly on April 12 and honored at a reception with University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin.

Amy McIntosh, New York City Department of Education Chief Talant Officer, discusses VARC’s contribution to the district’s teacher data initiative (New York City Department of Education website).

Milwaukee Classroom Value-Added Initiative

Over the past decade WCER (supported by the Joyce Foundation) has forged a strong partnership with Milwaukee Public School (MPS) that has led to the creation of a sophisticated system for measuring, tracking, and reporting the value-added productivity of MPS classrooms and schools. This system is now the core of the district’s school report card and accountability system and continues the success of the relationship by undertaking these three focused tasks:

Developing and utilizing value-added models for quarterly benchmark assessments

Building and implementing a value-added professional development system for all teachers and principals and

Evaluating the effects of the MPS classroom value-added initiative using a randomized experiment

These tasks are part of a concerted strategy to provide teachers and principals the information and decision tools needed to improve teaching and learning within the classroom.

Contact

Ernie Morgan
Phone: (608) 263-3452
Office: 768 Ed Sciences
ernestmorgan@wisc.edu