Value-Added Overview
Sapulpa Public Schools
August 16, 2012
Our Mission

The mission of Sapulpa Public Schools, in
partnership with the community, is to provide a
premier education to ensure that every student
achieves success in a global society.
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Sapulpa Public Schools’
Self-Assessment
1
Roadie
5
Back-up
Singer
10
Rock Star
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Learning Targets

Understand why value-added analysis provides
a more complete picture of school and teacher
effectiveness.

Understand how harnessing the power of two,
achievement and progress, provides a more
robust picture of school improvement.

Develop a conceptual understanding of growth
metrics
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National Landscape
“Education is no longer a pathway to
opportunity and success. It is a
prerequisite for success.”
-President Barack Obama, March 2009
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National Landscape
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has brought
an increased focus on student achievement
results for schools, school systems and
specific groups of students within schools.
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National Landscape
“With increased accountability, American schools
and the people who work in them are being asked
to do something new—to engage in systemic,
continuous improvement in the quality of the
educational experience of students and to subject
themselves to the discipline of measuring their
success by the metric of students’ academic
performance.”
-Richard Elmore, Bridging the Gap Between Standards and Achievement
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National Landscape
Across the country, growth models are
helping schools identify strengths,
challenges and opportunities throughout the
system.
 Growth analysis brings a new and
critically important kind of diagnostic
information to allow districts to be strategic
and focused in their decision-making.

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National Landscape
For the first time in the history of American
education, the definition of “great” teachers
is grounded in the students’ academic
growth, not just student achievement. The
difference is subtle but extremely important.
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Let’s Consider…

What are some ways that we determine our
effectiveness as teachers?

Are some ways more insightful to our professional
learning?
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Audience Share

Teacher observation

Parent feedback

Student growth

Student independence

Classroom mgmt.

Student feedback

Student engagement

Daily work

Student productions-produce
the language

Labs

Questions students ask

All students involved

Student attitudes

Attendance

Providing a healthy
environment

Teacher knowledge of
students



Analyze the data
(achievement and
benchmark)
Scaffolding
information/differentiated
instruction
Passion of the teacher
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Audience Share
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The Right Measures

All measures should inform practice and lead
to improvement for students.

Multiple measures should clarify, not confuse.


Multiple measures are not necessarily “better.”
Less is more, sometimes.
Important to measure what is important.
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Using the Measures Correctly

Don’t just admire the data.

Harness the power of data for
improvement, not judgment.

Convert data to information.

Respond to the data. Don’t react.
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What is value-added analysis?

Value-added models measure the influence of
schools or teachers on the academic growth
rates of students.

Value-added analysis compares the change in
achievement of a group of students from one
year to the next, to an expected amount of
change, based on their prior achievement
history and other potential influences.
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Stair Step Expectations

In a perfect world:
 Students
start at the same place.
 Students progress at the same pace.
 Achievement test scores are enough to
show growth.
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Differentiated Reality

In reality:
 Students
start at different places.
 Students progress at different rates.
 We need more than scores on a single test to
show a school’s effectiveness.
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Why use value-added analysis?
Using value-added analysis, along
with other data allows us to
separate…
what we think is happening
from
what is actually happening.
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What do you see?
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Take a second look.
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Harnessing the Power of Data for
Improvement
To do this we need:
 The right questions
 The right data
 The knowledge to interpret these data
 The wisdom to respond (not react) and apply
strategies for school improvement
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Setting the Stage: The Power of Two
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The Power of Two
Achievement plus Growth Measures =
A Clearer Picture of Student Outcomes
Achievement
 Measures
a student’s performance at a point in time
on a single test in a single subject
 Compares to a standard (e.g., proficiency)
 Important to post-secondary opportunities (GPA,
ACT)
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The Power of Two
Achievement plus Growth Measures=
A Clearer Picture of Student Outcomes
Growth
Measures the student’s progress between two points in
time
 Uses student’s own prior performance to predict future
performance
 May factor in student background characteristics
 Uses multiple data points (including student
demographics) that relate to student performance to
increase precision
 Measures the effect a district, school, grade-level,
classroom or teacher has on growth of student

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The Power of Two:
Achievement & Progress
How do value-added measures support what we know
about schools?
One Year’s Growth
High Progress
High Progress
Low Achievement High Achievement
• School A
Progress

• School H
Standard
• School K
• School G
• School D
Low Progress
Low Achievement
• School J
• School E
• School C
• School F
• School B
Low Progress
High Achievement
Achievement
Test Results
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The Power of Two:
Achievement & Progress
Leading
Progress
One Year’s Growth
High Progress
High Progress
Low Achievement High Achievement
• School A
• School H
Standard
• School K
• School G
• School D
Low Progress
Low Achievement
• School J
• School E
• School C
• School F
• School B
Low Progress
High Achievement
Achievement
Test Results
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The Power of Two:
Achievement & Progress
Learning
Progress
One Year’s Growth
High Progress
High Progress
Low Achievement High Achievement
• School A
• School H
Standard
• School K
• School G
• School D
Low Progress
Low Achievement
• School J
• School E
• School C
• School F
• School B
Low Progress
High Achievement
Achievement
Test Results
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The Power of Two:
Achievement & Progress
Losing Ground
Progress
One Year’s Growth
High Progress
High Progress
Low Achievement High Achievement
• School A
• School H
Standard
• School K
• School G
• School D
Low Progress
Low Achievement
• School J
• School E
• School C
• School F
• School B
Low Progress
High Achievement
Achievement
Test Results
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The Power of Two:
Achievement & Progress
Lucky
Progress
One Year’s Growth
High Progress
High Progress
Low Achievement High Achievement
• School A
• School H
Standard
• School K
• School G
• School D
Low Progress
Low Achievement
• School J
• School E
• School C
• School F
• School B
Low Progress
High Achievement
Achievement
Test Results
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Pause and Reflect



Where do you think
your school is?
Where would you
like to be?
What strategies can
you embrace now to
get there?
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Although it appears that Gardener B was more effective in
attaining a taller tree, it does not tell the whole story.




The gardeners’ oak trees are 4 years old.
We need to find the starting height for each tree in order to more fairly
evaluate each gardener’s performance during the past year.
Both trees were much shorter last year.
Oak Tree A grew by 14 inches and Oak Tree B grew by 20 inches.
72 in.
Gardener A
Gardener B
61 in.
52 in.
47 in.
Oak A
Oak A
Age 4
ThisAge
is 3analogous
(Today)
(1 year ago)
to a
Oak B
Oak B
Age 4
Age 3 Growth
Simple
Model
(Today)
(1 year ago)
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A Conceptual Analogy
Achievement Model
 Simple Growth Model
 Value-Added Model

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We begin by understanding what attributed to the growth of
the gardeners’ trees.



For the past year, the gardeners have been tending to their oak trees, trying
to maximize the height of the trees.
Each gardener used a variety of strategies to help their own trees grow.
After one year of implementing their strategies, one of Gardener A’s tree
grew to 61 inches tall and one of Gardener B’s trees grew to 72 inches tall.
72 in. Gardener B
Gardener A
61 in.
This is analogous to an Achievement Model
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We still do not know how much of this growth was due to the
strategies used by each gardener.



We need a more accurate estimate.
We examine all oaks in each respective area to find the average height
increase for these trees.
We also take into consideration the impact of three environmental factors:
Rainfall, Soil Richness, and Temperature.
Gardener B
Gardener A
Low
High
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Now it’s time to use our data to make a more accurate
prediction for the
expected
of oak
Based
on data forheight
all oak trees
in thetrees
region: in this area.
The average increase in oak tree height was 20 inches during the past year.

However, each tree was exposed to different levels of rainfall, temperature
and soil richness.

Therefore, we must adjust the average height during the past year to
compensate for these environmental factors.
74 in.
72 in. Gardener B
Gardener A
61 in.
59 in.
22 in.
12 in.
+52 in.
+47 in.

+20 Average
+20 Average
+ 3 for Rainfall
- 5 for Rainfall
- 3 for Soil
+ 2 for Soil
- 8 for Temp
_________
+12 inches
During the year
+ 5 for Temp
_________
+22 inches
During the year
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Finally, we compare the actual height of each tree to our
prediction.
Our predicted heights for tree A and B are 59 and 74 inches respectively.

Oak tree A’s actual height of 61 inches is 2 inches more than we predicted.

We attribute this above-average result to the effect of Gardener A.

Oak tree B’s actual height of 72 inches is 2 inches less than we predicted.

We attribute this below-average result to the effect of Gardener B.
74 in. -2
72 in.
Gardener A
+2
Gardener B
61 in.
59 in.

Predicted
Predicted
Actual
Actual
This
is
analogous
to
a
Value-Added
Model
Oak A
Oak B
Oak A
Oak B
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Apply this method to all trees under each gardener’s care.


This information can be used to calculate the height for each tree today if it
were being cared for by an average gardener in this area.
Now, who is the more effective gardener?
Gardener B
Gardener A
Predicted
Oak A
Actual
Oak A
Predicted
Oak B
Actual
Oak B
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How Does This Analogy Relate to Value-Added
in the Education Context?
Oak Tree Analogy
Value-added in Education
What are we looking at?
• Gardeners
•
•
•
•
•
What are we using to
measure success?
• Relative height
improvement in inches
• Relative improvement on
standardized test scores
Sample
• Single oak tree
• Groups of students
Control factors
• Rainfall
• Soil richness
• Temperature
• Students’ prior test
performance (usually
most significant
predictor)
• Other demographic
Districts
Schools
Grade levels
Classrooms
Programs and
Interventions
characteristics (grade
level, gender, SWD, ELL
status, IEP status,
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Reflection



Why is it important to measure both
achievement and progress?
What are the challenges of identifying our most
effective practices through a single lens of an
achievement measure?
How may the use of value added measures
inform our efforts to identify and replicate our
most effective practices?
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The Value-Added Research Center
(VARC) Model
 School
Level Results
 Teacher Level Results
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Value-Added Color Scheme on Reports
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Which grade-level team should be
prioritized?
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Value-Added Analysis:
Actual minus Predicted
Value-Added Above Prediction
Value-Added At Prediction
Value-Added Below Predicted
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Prior Data Points Used to Predict:

Using the data from the Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test
(OCCT), in reading and math…
 A prior reading achievement level can be predictive
of reading achievement.
 e.g., 7th grade reading predicts 8th grade reading

A prior math achievement level can be predictive of
math achievement.

It is also possible that a prior reading test can predict
math and vice versa.
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Culture Matters

For many of us, examining data can be very
personal.

The school value-added report may be the first
time we look into the mirror and reflect upon
the impact of our practices.

A supportive and collaborative culture fosters
using the data to improve our practices in a
positive and productive manner.
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Closing Questions


Think about your school’s culture. How would
we assess our readiness to collaborate around
our data for the purposes of improved practice?
What are some ways that we can nurture a
positive school culture for using value-added
data to improve practice?
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Check for Understanding
Please complete the 3–2–1 Exit Ticket before
leaving today.
3 Ways value-added data can improve your school and/or
classroom.
2 Things you would like to further explore.
1 Takeaway you gleaned from this presentation.
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