Editors’ Introduction: The Use of Teacher Value-Added Measures in Schools

Abstract

Teacher accountability based on teacher value-added measures could have far-reaching effects on classroom instruction and student learning, for good and for ill. To date, however, research has focused almost entirely on the statistical properties of the measures. While a useful starting point, the validity and reliability of the measures tell us very little about the effects on teaching and learning that come from embedding value added into policies like teacher evaluation, tenure, and compensation. We pose dozens of unanswered questions, not only about the net effects of these policies on measurable student outcomes, but about the numerous, often indirect ways in which these and less easily observed effects might arise. Drawing in part on other articles in the special issue, we consider perspectives from labor economics, sociology of organizations, and psychology. Some of the pathways of these policy effects directly influence teaching and learning and in intentional ways, while other pathways are indirect and unintentional. While research is just beginning to answer the key questions, a key initial theme of recent research is that both the opponents and advocates are partly correct about the influence of these policies.