Special Issue of “Educational Researcher” (Paper #4 of 9): Make Room VAMs for Observations
Recall that the peer-reviewed journal Educational Researcher (ER) – recently published a “Special Issue” including nine articles examining value-added measures (VAMs). I have reviewed the next of nine articles (#4 of 9) here, titled “Make Room Value-Added: Principals’ Human Capital Decisions and the Emergence of Teacher Observation Data.”This one is authored by Ellen Goldring, Jason A. Grissom, Christine Neumerski, Marisa Cannata, Mollie Rubin, Timothy Drake, and Patrick Schuermann, all of whom are associated with Vanderbilt University.
This article is primarily about (1) the extent to which the data generated by “high-quality observation systems” can inform principals’ human capital decisions (e.g., teacher hiring, contract renewal, assignment to classrooms, professional development), and (2) the extent to which principals are relying less on test scores derived via value-added models (VAMs), when making the same decisions, and why. Here are some of their key (and most important, in my opinion) findings:
- Principals across all school systems revealed major hesitations and challenges regarding the use of VAM output for human capital decisions. Barriers preventing VAM use included the timing of data availability (e.g., the fall), which is well after human capital decisions are made (p. 99).
- VAM output are too far removed from the practice of teaching (p. 99), and this lack of instructional sensitivity impedes, if not entirely prevents their actual versus hypothetical use for school/teacher improvement.
- “Principals noted they did not really understand how value-added scores were Special Issue of “Educational Researcher” (Paper #4 of 9): Make Room VAMs for Observations | VAMboozled!:
