Don't Like Value-Added? Cool. So Pick Your Poison :: Frederick M. Hess

Don't Like Value-Added? Cool. So Pick Your Poison :: Frederick M. Hess:

Don't Like Value-Added? Cool. So Pick Your Poison

by Frederick M. Hess • Feb 17, 2012 at 8:03 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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As regular readers know, much of my writing on value-added dings would-be reformers for getting waaaay ahead of themselves. They're busy trying to build whole systems around tools that are crude, limited, and relevant for only a portion of what teachers and schools do. That's why I find it troubling that "reformers" are in a headlong dash to use these primitive systems to measure everything they can, or to validate everything else (observations, student feedback, etc.).

But--and here's the crucial "but"--value-added is a tool for measuring performance that may be useful in holding adults accountable for how well they do their job. Here, the question is not "is it perfect?" but "if, when, why, how, where, and why is it better than the alternatives?"

I was reminded of this simple point on Tuesday, when my discussion of Doug Harris's book on the strengths, limitations, and proper uses of value-added drew a scorching wave of furious comments insisting that any