CHAPTER 11Value-Added Assessments of Teacher Effectiveness
In 2010, the LA Times published ratings of teacher effectiveness based on student test scores. The Times ratings were an early example of value-added assessment (VAA). As shown in projects.latimes.com/value-added/teacher/rigoberto-ruelas/, Rigoberto Ruelas was rated a very poor math teacher. His colleagues, however, rated him a great teacher. Soon after the Times published the ratings, Ruelas committed suicide. We will never know for sure if the low rating and suicide were related, but this tragedy caused many to question the validity and usefulness of value-added modeling for rating teacher effectiveness.
In this chapter, we will explore the following techniques used to evaluate teachers based on test scores:
- Simple gain score assessment
- Covariate adjustment assessment
- Layered assessment
- Cross-classified constant growth assessment
Our discussion is primarily based on Edward W. Wiley's excellent guide to VAA, A Practitioner's Guide to Value-Added Assessment (nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/Wiley_APractitionersGuide.pdf).
Simple Gain Score Assessment
Simple gain score assessment is based on relating the gain in a student's score to her teacher. An example is given in the worksheet Simple gain assessment of the workbook
VAA.xlsx. Three fifth-grade teachers each have 30 students, and we are given each student's fourth- and fifth-grade test scores (using a percentile ranking from 1 to 100). Simple gain score ...
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