Adding Value to Discussions About Value-Added:
"The quality of the U.S. teacher workforce is under the microscope, and rightly so. Teachers represent the most important school-based resource determining students’ academic success, and a shortage of graduates with knowledge and skills necessary to drive innovation or to command premium wages in a global economy threatens the nation’s economic prosperity. Moreover, children from low-income families and children of color are disproportionately assigned to the least effective teachers, a finding that helps explain yawning gaps between average educational outcomes of groups defined by family income or ethnicity. Broad improvements in teacher quality will thus serve the strategic goals of raising student achievement overall and reducing disparity in achievement between groups."
