The Sensitivity of Value-Added Modeling to the Creation of a Vertical Score Scale

Derek C. Briggs () and Jonathan P. Weeks ()
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Derek C. Briggs: School of Education, University of Colorado, Boulder
Jonathan P. Weeks: School of Education, University of Colorado, Boulder

Education Finance and Policy, 2009, vol. 4, issue 4, 384-414

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of growth and value-added modeling to the way an underlying vertical score scale has been created. Longitudinal item-level data were analyzed with both student- and school-level identifiers for the entire state of Colorado between 2003 and 2006. Eight different vertical scales were established on the basis of choices made for three key variables: the item response theory modeling approach, the calibration approach, and the student proficiency estimation approach. Each scale represented a methodological approach that was psychometrically defensible. Longitudinal values from each scale were used as the outcome in a commonly used value-added model (the “layered model” popularized by William Sanders) as a means of estimating school effects. Our findings suggest that while the ordering of estimating school effects is insensitive to the underlying vertical scale, the precision of such value-added estimates can be quite sensitive to the combinations of choices made in the creation of the scale. © 2009 American Education Finance Association

Keywords: value-added modeling; vertical score scale; Colorado (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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