'Value Added' Models Gain in Popularity

Growth Yardstick Appeals to States

The concept sounds appealing: Measure the effectiveness of schools and teachers based on the amount of academic progress their students make from one year to the next. Often known as “value added” measures because they track the “value” that schools add to individual students’ learning over time, such methods are increasingly popular with educators and policymakers.

Some view the methods as an antidote to accountability systems that focus solely on getting children to a specified achievement level on a state test, regardless of where they start. Others view them as a way to isolate the effects of teachers and schools on learning, separate from such background characteristics as race and poverty.

Three national conferences on the topic took place last month alone. And this week, the Washington-based Council of Chief State School Officers planned to host a...