A Perspective on the MOSL

Measures of Student Learning or MOSL as it is called most often, is the part of our teaching evaluations that are based on student test scores. Some school use their own testing for this, but many others use the NYS Regents exam for this. My school does the latter. While on the one hand, it seems like a good idea to measure a teacher’s effectiveness on “student learning,” for teachers of some populations this is inherently problematic. As a Special Education teacher, I don’t believe that student scores reflect my best teaching self. These students are in these classes because they are in some case, significantly below grade level. Now how is it that I am to be measured by my students scores by a grade level test that does not reflect their actual ability?

Then there are the circumstances beyond my control. I teach an early class and while I have 9 students on my roster (it’s a 15:1 class), I average about 4 kids on a given day. All of the 9 kids in my class are required to sit for the Regents. I have done the following for the students who routinely do not show up: I have called home, I have contacted their guidance counselors on more than one occasion and I have written anecdotals about their absences. And yet, even with all of that effort, the students still do not show up. My question then is this: How can I possibly be measured by their test scores when they haven’t been in class enough to learn the material? This is a dilemma I know many teachers face and there is not an adequate answer.

Can the school do more to make sure students make coming to all of their classes a priority? Sure. But where does that still leave the students who even if they attend every day and attempt every assignment are still below grade level and unable to pass the exam? As a 12 year veteran of the NYC Department of Education, I have come to accept that I have no control over this part of my rating. I do my best during classroom observations and I prepare my students for these exams whether or not I know in my heart that they’ll pass. But there still h as to be a better way to measure teachers’ effectiveness than an exam on one day where there may be many different factors at play as to why any student might score poorly.