The Revelations of Value-Added: An Assessment Model that Measures Student Growth in Ways that NCLB Fails to Do

In the No Child Left Behind era of high-stakes testing, school administrators are facing their toughest challenge ever. They are being held accountable for the performance of their schools, yet current systems in public education typically fail to provide them with the appropriate tools to manage effectively. Although the classroom is where learning takes place, superintendents and principals often know precious little about what is happening within them. As never before, administrators need the means to measure and evaluate the impact of curricula, new practices and professional development on academic achievement. For unless the quality of classroom instruction and programs can be improved significantly, students will be unlikely to meet the high standards now required. Fortunately, significant help is available in the form of a relatively new tool known as value-added assessment. Because value-added isolates the impact of instruction on student learning, it provides detailed information at the classroom level. Its rich diagnostic data can be used to improve teaching and student learning. It can be the basis for a needed improvement in the calculation of adequate yearly progress. In time, once teachers and administrators grow comfortable with its fairness, value-added also may serve as the foundation for an accountability system at the level of individual educators.