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[Phys-l] The Ceiling Effect #2



Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent post "The Ceiling Effect #2" [Hake (2011)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: Sheila Tobias (2010) in a recent APS News "Back Page" editorial "Teachers in the Crosshairs. . .": wrote:

"In Houston, where a new value-added formula is being used to grade teachers' skills, 'N.Y. Times' education writer Sam Dillon found a high school physics teacher out of the running for high bonuses because, as she reported, 'My kids come in at a very high level of competence, scoring well before the semester begins.' After she teaches them for a year, they continue to score well on a state science test but show less measurable 'gain' than other classes, so her bonus is small compared with those of other teachers. The teacher has invented a term of her own to characterize this distortion. She calls it the 'ceiling effect.' We might call it a saturation effect."

It's unfortunate that the teacher's bonus assigners were not aware that it's the "average normalized gain" <g> = (<%post> - <%pre>) / (100% - <%pre>) [the angle brackets <. . . > indicate class averages], often used in physics education research, that can (in some cases) be used as a gauge of relative course effectiveness, NOT the absolute average gain <G> = (<%post> - <%pre>).
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To access the complete 11 kB post please click on <http://bit.ly/hUnHZe>


Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the
Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>
<http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com>
<http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>


REFERENCES [URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 12 Jan 2010.]

Hake, R.R. 2011. "The Ceiling Effect #2" online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/hUnHZe>. Post of 12 Jan 2011 16:19:49-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to various discussion lists are also online on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/gLWr7W> with a provision for comments.

Tobias, S. 2010. "Teachers in the Crosshairs: The Impact of 'School Choice,' 'Reform,' and 'Accountability'," APS News 20(1), January; online at <http://bit.ly/fc6jEj>.