Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent post "Re:
Economists and Value-Added Wave in Schools" [Hake (2011a)]. The
abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: Economist Douglas Harris <http://bit.ly/eE72Vk> (2011a)
contrasts three recent reports on Value Added Measures (in decreasing
enthusiasm for Value Added Measures):
(a) "The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality" [Hanushek (2010)]
- 100% economist authorship;
(b) "Evaluating Teachers: The Important Role of Value-Added"
[Glazerman et al. (2010)] - 60% economist authorship; and
(c) "Problems With The Use of Student Test Scores to Evaluate
Teachers" [EPI (2010)] - 10% economist authorship.
Harris (2011a) wrote [my CAPS]:
". . . . there is a clear disagreement between these groups mirrored
in the larger public debate. . . . . . why is there so much
disagreement about what to do with these measures? The answer lies
substantially in the backgrounds of the authors: THE HIGHER THE
PROPORTION OF AUTHORS WHO ARE ECONOMISTS, THE MORE AGGRESSIVE THE
REPORTS ARE ABOUT THE USE OF VALUE-ADDED [my CAPS] . . . . . . The
divide between economists and others might be more productive if any
of the reports provided specific recommendations. For example,
creating better student assessments and combining value-added with
classroom assessments are musts. . . . . . . . Another key step is
experimenting with and carefully evaluating different options for
using value-added. There is ALMOST no evidence to suggest that any
use of value-added does or does not improve teaching and learning."
"ALMOST" but not quite. In "Academically
Adrift"<http://bit.ly/gwJD0W> [Hake (2011b)] I wrote:
"Despite the naysayers and its apparent dismissal by a large segment
of the evaluation community, formative pre/post testing. . . .[[a
gauge of value added]]. . . . is gradually gaining a foothold in
introductory astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences,
economics, engineering, math, and physics courses. At least for
physics there is substantial evidence that pre/post testing has
resulted in the improvement of teaching and learning in large
enrollment courses at Harvard, North Carolina State University, MIT,
University of Colorado, and California Polytechnic State University
at San Luis Obispo.
But can multiple-choice tests gauge higher-level cognitive outcomes
such as attaining an understanding of the abstract and
counterintuitive Newtonian mechanics? Some psychometricians - see,
e.g., <http://bit.ly/f6WFeg> - and most physicists - see, e.g.,
<http://bit.ly/fDdJHm> - think so, even though educator Marion Brady
thinks not - see <http://wapo.st/g4LlDw>.
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"What we assess is what we value. We get what we assess,
and if we don't assess it, we won't get it."
Lauren Resnick [quoted by Grant Wiggins (1990)]
REFERENCES [URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 8 Feb 2011.]
Becker, J. 2011. "Economists and Value-Added Wave in Schools," online
on the OPEN! Math-Teach archives at <http://bit.ly/eE72Vk>. Post of
6 Feb 6 1:07 PM (the Math Forum fails to indicate the time zone).
Hake, R.R. 2011a. "Re: Economists and Value-Added Wave in
Schools,"online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/gIg6Ae>. Post of 8 Feb 2011 14:59:24-0800 to AERA-L
and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being
transmitted to various discussion lists are also online on my blog
"Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/gVC4mF> with a provision for
comments.
Hake, R.R. 2011b. "Academically Adrift?" online on the OPEN! AERA-L
archives at <http://bit.ly/gwJD0W>. Post of 29 Jan 2011 10:00:09-0800
to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post
are being transmitted to various discussion lists are also online on
my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/hVYzHI> with a provision
for comments.
Harris, D.N. 2011a. "Economists and the Value-Added Wave in Schools:
How Economists and Educators Can Find Common Ground," Education Week,
26 January; online to subscribers at <http://bit.ly/hUipzZ> and also
included in Becker (2011) in accord with "fair use" of copyrighted
material - see e.g., <http://bit.ly/eNseEp>.
Wiggins, G. 1990. "The Truth May Make You Free, But the Test May Keep
You Imprisoned: Toward Assessment Worthy of the Liberal Arts," AAHE
Assessment Forum: 17-31; online at <http://bit.ly/a7g09T>.