When The Legend Becomes Fact, Print The Fact Sheet
The New Teacher Project (TNTP) just released a “fact sheet” on value-added (VA) analysis. I’m all for efforts to clarify complex topics such as VA, and, without question, there is a great deal of misinformation floating around on this subject, both “pro-” and “anti-.”
The fact sheet presents five sets of “myths and facts.” Three of the “myths” seem somewhat unnecessary: that there’s no research behind VA; that teachers will be evaluated based solely on test scores; and that VA is useless because it’s not perfect. Almost nobody believes or makes these arguments (at least in my experience). But I guess it never hurts to clarify.
In contrast, the other two are very common arguments, but they are not myths. They are serious issues with concrete policy implications. If there are any myths, they’re in the “facts” column.
The first objection – that the models aren’t “fair to teachers who work in high-needs schools, where students tend to lag far behind academically” – is a little confusing. In one sense, it’s correct to point out that value-added
