Rethinking value-added models in education : critical perspectives on tests and assessment-based accountability / Audrey Amrein-Beardsley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Amrein-Beardsley, Audrey, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Educational accountability--United States.

Educational accountability.

Teachers--Rating of.

Mathematical models.

United States.

Educational indicators--United States.

Educational indicators.

Educational tests and measurements--United States.

Educational tests and measurements.

Teachers--Rating of--United States--Mathematical models.

Teachers.

Physical Description:

xxi, 251 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Edition:

First published 2014.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2014.

Summary:

Since passage of the of No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, academic researchers, econometricians, and statisticians have been exploring various analytical methods of documenting students' academic progress over time. Known as value-added models (VAMs), these methods are meant to measure the value a teacher or school adds to student learning from one year to the next. To date, however, there is very little evidence to support the trustworthiness of these models. What is becoming increasingly evident, yet often ignored mainly by policymakers, is that VAMs are (1) unreliable, (2) invalid, (3} nontransparent, (4) unfair, (5) fraught with measurement errors, and 6) being inappropriately used to make consequential decisions regarding such things as teacher pay, retention, and termination. Unfortunately, their unintended consequences are not fully recognized at this point either. Given such, the timeliness of this well-researched and thoughtful book cannot be overstated. This book sheds important light on the debate surrounding VAMs and thereby offers states and practitioners a highly important resource from which they can move forward in more research-based ways. Book jacket.

Contents:

Socially engineering the road to utopia

Value-added models (VAMs) and the human factor

A VAMoramic view of the nation

Highly questionable yet often unquestioned assumptions

Assumptions used as rationales and justifications

Test-based, statistical, and methodological assumptions

Nontraditional concerns about traditional methodological notions

Reliability and validity

Bias and the random assignment of students into classrooms

Alternatives, solutions, and conclusions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415820110

0415820111

9780415820127

041582012X

OCLC:

865297283