FW: Value Added Modeling Workshop with Daniel McCaffrey- May 14-15, 2011

[Mccoach, D. Betsy]

Value-Added Modeling Workshop

May 14 & 15, 2012

Daniel McCaffrey, RAND

University of Connecticut

http://www.education.uconn.edu/workshops/2012-vam/

In the current culture of assessment, there is a renewed emphasis on teacher effectiveness and various techniques for evaluating educators based upon student performance. This workshop will provide an introduction to one method of measurement called value-added modeling (VAM), touching on: data requirements and issues, model types and ad hoc methods,  empirical results, consequences for error in VAM, and practical considerations. The primary objectives for this workshop include: participant recognition and comprehension of multiple model comparisons and identification of practical constraints regarding the complexities of student instruction and model limitations in terms of the accurate estimation of teacher effectiveness.

To register go to:  http://www.education.uconn.edu/workshops/2012-vam/

Cost:  $250 for faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and non-UCONN affiliates
$150 for UCONN Graduate students



More information on this workshop:
Interest among policy makers, educators, and researchers in measuring teacher performance and improving teacher evaluations as a means of improving the teacher workforce is at an all-time high. It is the center piece of the US Department of Education Race to the Top grants, a large initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and state and school district policies. Value-added measures of teacher effectiveness estimated from student achievement test scores are key components of the proposed performance measures. This two-day short course offers an introduction into the value-added modeling of teacher effectiveness.  The course will cover:



Data requirements for value-added modeling including issues of test scaling

Structural models and causal effects

Statistical models for longitudinal achievement data with teacher effects including: (a) hierarchical linear models, (b) the layered model of the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment, and (c) the variable and general persistence models of Lockwood, McCaffrey and colleagues

Econometric models including the education production function model of Harris and Sass, or Todd and Wolpin, or Boardman and Murnane

Student growth percentiles

Ad hoc methods and growth models

Empirical findings, including results on stability-reliability, persistence, and confounding of estimates

Implications of errors in value-added estimates

Practical considerations
The first day of the course will provide an overview of these topics. Day two will explore these areas in greater depth and include demonstrations of available software for fitting the models.  It will also provide time for conducting analyses.  The primary goals of the course are for participants to develop an understanding of how various models compare with each other and to provide insight into practical issues that complexities of student instruction and models’ limitations pose for estimation.


Biography:
Dan McCaffrey, Ph.D., is a senior statistician and the PNC Chair in Policy Analysis at RAND. Dr. McCaffrey is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and is nationally recognized for his research on value-added modeling (VAM) for the estimation of teacher effects.  He was the lead author on the widely cited 2003 RAND report discussing the potential values and concerns with using VAM to evaluate teachers.  He has numerous publications in this area of education research, including several that develop new models for VAM and theoretical results on random effects estimation.  Dr. McCaffrey has presented his research to numerous audiences including the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the Ohio State Department Education Task Force on Value-Added Modeling, the National Conference on Value-Added Modeling, the National Conference on Performance Incentives, the Eastern Education Research Association, and numerous invited presentations and technical advisory committees. He is currently leading RAND’s efforts on three studies comparing value-added measures to other measures of teaching including classroom observations and a major partner in the National Center on Performance Incentives which is conducting two random control experiments to test the effects of using value-added to reward teacher bonuses.  He is also the Co-PI on an IES-funded study to develop new methods for VAM (PI: J.R. Lockwood). Dr. McCaffrey has received funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Kauffman Foundation, and the National Education Association for value-added research. Dr. McCaffrey has also conducted extensive methodological research on causal effects estimation and methods for estimating standard errors and testing hypotheses for complex clustered design.

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