Potential Sources of Invalidity When Using Value-Added Estimates: Artificial Inflation, Deflation, and Conflation

• In Event: 34.076 - Key Issues in Validity Research and Theory

Abstract

US teacher evaluation systems, still in place post the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, are primarily built upon two multiple measures of teacher effectiveness: teacher-level value-added estimates and observations of teachers in practice. While much research has been conducted about these systems, very little research has been conducted about how the ways these systems are used in practice that might distort the validity of the inferences to be drawn. In this study, researchers examined the extent to which the indicators used might be artificially manipulated when used alongside value-added estimates. Researchers also examined the extent to which the indicators might be deliberately and methodically conflated to artificially increase perceptions of validity.

Authors

• Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Arizona State University

• Tray Geiger, Arizona State University