Sarah Wysocki fired after inaccurate teacher effectiveness assessment

Washington DC public school teacher Sarah Wysocki was fired for receiving a poor evaluation by an algorithm, resulting in a heated controversy about the accuracy, fairness, value, and transparency of the region's teacher performance evaluation system. District of Columbia Public Schools' IMPACT teacher evaluation system used test scores from schools under investigation for cheating to calculate so-called 'value-added scores ' that would be incorporated into teacher evaluations. Wyosecki had earned excellent observation ratings and was highly regarded by peers and parents. But she received an uncharacteristically low value-added score and lost her job, despite evidence the evaluation generated by the algorithm was based on falsified student scores. The algorithm is seen to have failed to account for various external factors affecting student performance, such as learning disabilities or poverty. And its proprietary nature made it difficult for Wysocki to challenge or understand the reasoning behind her low score. Wyosecki's appeal against her dismissal failed, though she was quickly offered a position with another school system. 205 other teachers also lost their positions. System 🤖 IMPACT 🔗 Documents 📃 District of Colombia Public Schools. IMPACT: The DCPS Evaluation and Feedback System for School-Based Personnel Operator : District of Columbia Public Schools Developer: Mathematica Policy Research Country: USA Sector: Education Purpose: Assess and rank teacher performance Technology: Value-added model Issue: Accountability; Accuracy/reliability; Automation bias; Fairness; Transparency

Date it happened

2012-02-01

Organisation involved

District of Columbia Public Schools

Product, system or model

IMPACT

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.