Value-Added Models

Value-added models are statistical models that try to identify the impact of programs, people, or environments on a specific outcome. In education research, the term typically refers to models that look at the impact of various inputs on student growth in achievement, where achievement is generally measured by standardized test scores. In this sense, these models fit into the broader investigation of the education production function, which describes the process of producing learning as a formula that relates various inputs to the output of learning. So, within this context, for example, educators and [Page 1784]researchers can use a value-added model to ask whether a particular program or intervention helps raise achievement—to see “what works” in improving student learning. Such an investigation would fall under the ...