Scrutiny Heightens for "Value Added" Research Methods

Autor/in	Viadero, Debra
Titel	Scrutiny Heightens for "Value Added" Research Methods
Quelle	In: Education Week, 27 (2008) 36, S.1 (3 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0277-4232
Schlagwörter	Research Methodology; Academic Achievement; Researchers; Teaching Methods; Scores; Federal Legislation; Wisconsin + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Research method; Forschungsmethode; Schulleistung; Researcher; Forscher; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Bundesrecht
Abstract	As value-added research designs gain in popularity and undergo increasing scrutiny, experts are beginning to wave cautionary flags about how best to make use of them in education. Value-added techniques for measuring student achievement appeal to administrators and policymakers at all levels of education because they quantify the gains that students make from one school year to the next rather than relying on reporting percentages of students who get passing or proficient scores at the end of the school year. Theoretically, that means that teachers or schools get credit only for the value they add to students' learning trajectories, and that they do not get penalized for any learning gaps that students bring with them on the first day of school. In an April 22-24 conference at the University of Wisconsin, researchers from a variety of academic disciplines presented studies that both bolstered the method's credibility and introduced caveats about its usefulness in schools. One reason that some researchers are skeptical about using the methodology to reward or punish teachers is that the results can vary sharply over time. Missing test-score data, an issue with any standardized assessment system, can also pose particular problems with value-added models because they rely on data from several school years, thus compounding the overall amount of data that will be missing, according to experts. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Editorial Projects in Education. 6935 Arlington Road Suite 100, Bethesda, MD 20814-5233. Tel: 800-346-1834; Tel: 301-280-3100; e-mail: customercare@epe.org; Web site: http://www.edweek.org/info/about/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10