Using Validity Criteria to Enable Model Selection: An Exploratory Analysis

In this paper, the authors propose that an important determinant of value-added model choice should be alignment with alternative indicators of teacher and teaching quality. Such alignment makes sense from a theoretical perspective because better alignment is thought to indicate more valid systems. To provide initial evidence on this issue, they first calculated value-added scores for all fourth and fifth grade teachers within four districts, then extracted scores for 160 intensively studied teachers. Initial analyses using a subset of alternative indicators suggest that alignment between value-added scores and alternative indicators differ by model, though not significantly.