Step 1. There will always be instability in these rankings, some of which will reflect “real” performance changes. But it is difficult to trust any performance rating if the odds of getting the same rating next year are no better than a coin toss.
Step 2. If the odds of getting the same rating next year are no better than a coin toss, then it is difficult to trust any performance rating.
Step 3. Thus, a teacher who has comparatively ranked at the 43rd percentile may very well be anywhere between the 15th percentile and the 71st percentile (Ravitch, 270-271).
Step 4. The inherently unpredictable framework of existing ranking systems does not invoke confidence in raw performance rating data (Ravitch, 270-271).
Step 5. According to Ravitch, using students’ test scores as the definitive indicator of a teacher’s skill is highly unsatisfactory as, “…the estimates of value-added and other “growth models,” which attempt to isolate the “true effect” of an individual teacher through his or her students’ test scores, are alarmingly error-prone in any given year (Ravitch, 270-271).”
Original source: Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System (New York: Basic Books, 2011), pp. 270-71.
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You clearly grasp the key concept, but need more attention to the mechanics of quotations. In step 5, use single quotes to mark the internal quotation, like this:
“…the estimates of value-added and other ‘growth models,’ which attempt to isolate the ‘true effect’ of an individual teacher. . .”
Also, at the end of that sentence, place the final quotation mark before the page number, rather than after it.