VAM on Trial: Authority and Expertise in the Construction of Value-Added Models for Teacher Evaluation

• In Event: 32.082 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 32.082-10 - Actionable Knowledge? Continuing the Debate on Value-Added Approaches to School Accountability

Abstract

VAM is an education policy phenomenon that has been vigorously debated in the media, in public discourse, in policy committees, within academia, and now in the courts. Beginning in 2011, a series of wrongful termination suits were heard by courts in states from Texas to Illinois, and New York to New Mexico.  In this study we conduct a Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1992) of transcripts from the expert testimonies examined/cross-examined for both the prosecution and defense in a recent wrongful termination case in New Mexico. The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which court-authorized VAM experts discursively constituted VAMs, VAM-use, and VAM expertise as situated within a larger debate around the topic.

Authors

• Jessica Holloway, Deakin University

• Rachael Gabriel, University of Connecticut