Collaborative Research: RealVAMS-Getting Real-World Value from Value Added Models

教育中的增值模型（VAMs）越来越多地被用来衡量教师对学生成绩的影响，这种方法考虑到了学生的需求。和同事?过往业绩和人口统计数据。通常为VAM提供信息的数据主要依赖于州测试系统的学生成绩数据。RealVAMs项目测试了一个多维度的机制，包括学生成功的其他衡量标准，如不同评估工具（SAT， ACT）的分数和分类反应，如学生是否毕业或是否坚持在STEM领域学习。使用多维数据的真实世界模型正在使用来自一个大型学区的纵向数据库进行测试。该项目正在创建一个开放源代码的可访问程序，以促进VAMS在更大范围内的扩展测量。该项目具有全国意义，因为使用VAMs进行教师评价在全国各地的学校和地区迅速扩大。在教师评价中使用VAMs的一个主要反对意见是过度依赖州测试数据的使用。反对使用VAMs的人认为，这种依赖导致课程和教学范围的缩小，只局限于那些可以在州考试中测试的内容。并非所有科目都经过测试，因此VAMs的使用并不支持可用于评估非测试科目或年级水平教师的证据。该项目为学校和地区的教育实践社区提供了信息，并提供了关于教师对政策决策影响的更细致和更丰富的信息。

Value-Added Models (VAMs) in education are increasingly being used to attempt to measure the impact of a teacher on student achievement in a way that takes into account students? and peers? prior performance and demographics. Data that typically inform a VAM rely largely on student achievement data from state testing systems. The RealVAMs project tests a multi-dimensional mechanism to include other measures of student success such as scores from different assessment instruments (SAT, ACT) and categorical responses such as whether or not a student graduated or persisted in a STEM field. The real world model using multi-dimensional data is being tested using a longitudinal database from a large school district. The project is creating an open source accessible program to facilitate the expanded measurement of VAMS across a larger scale. This project has national significance as the use of VAMs for teacher evaluation is expanding rapidly across the country in schools and districts. A major objection to the use of VAMs in teacher evaluation has been the over-reliance on the use of state testing data. Opponents of the use of VAMs argue that this reliance contributes to a narrowing of curriculum and instruction to only what can be tested on state tests. Not all subjects are tested, so the use of VAMs does not support the evidence that can be used in the evaluation of teachers in non-tested subjects or grade levels. This project informs the educational practice community of schools and districts and provides for more nuanced and richer information about the impact of teachers for policy decision making.