VAMBoozled! Deconstructing the Assumptions Behind Value-Added

• In Event: Issues in Value-Added Models for Teacher Accountability

Abstract

Despite the controversies surrounding Value-Added Models (VAM) implementation and use, with the most vocal criticisms coming mainly from educational scholars conducting research on both the intended and unintended effects of VAMs, supporters have held closely to VAMs' purported yet still highly theoretical strengths. Continuously pushing VAMs forward, primarily VAM technicians and advocates have adopted and promoted a set of agreed-upon assumptions that have helped them advance these initiatives, regardless of the research- and literature based opposition. These assumptions have never been fully investigated, explicated, or exposed, however, which was the motivation behind the researchers who conducted this study. Such assumptions will be detailed and described during this presentation, as per an analysis of over 500 written documents on this topic.

Authors

• Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Arizona State University

• Jessica Holloway, Kansas State University