Value-added models

Abstract

Being an expert involves explaining how things are supposed to work, and, perhaps more important, why things might not work as supposed. In this study, researchers surveyed scholars with expertise in value-added models (VAMs) to solicit their opinions about the uses and potential of VAMs for teacher-level accountability purposes (for example, in the areas of teacher evaluation, promotion, tenure, merit pay, and termination). Researchers found that respondents were most concerned about VAMs and their methodological and pragmatic flaws and limitations; their uses, misuses, and sometimes abuses in practice; and their unintended consequences. Education practitioners will benefit from this shared knowledge, intelligence, wisdom, and expertise to develop a deeper understanding of the merits and pitfalls of value-added models.