Value-added growth models are statistical models that quantify student academic growth and can be used for various purposes like setting individual student growth targets, incorporating student achievement in teacher evaluations, and documenting returns on investment for programs. The models project what a student's achievement would likely be based on prior performance and compares it to actual achievement to determine value-added impact. Growth percentiles express differences between projections and actuals as percentiles to identify at-risk students and examine teacher/program effectiveness. Multiple historical years of student achievement data are used to develop the models.

2. What are Value-Added Growth Models? Value-added growth models are designed to answer a basic question that has frustrated educators for decades. - In a different school? - Under a different curriculum? - With a different teacher? - If they were not in a particular program? How do we know if a student or group of students performed any better than they would have anyway: Historically, our inability to answer this question has been related to the absence of control groups.

3. Sorting out the Terms Growth models transition student achievement from an achievement status model to a model designed to rigorously capture student growth at the individual and aggregate level. Growth models help to address the following questions: Value-added models are a broad class of statistical models used to quantify value-added growth. Typical: What is a typical year ’s growth? Actual: How much growth actually occurred? Aspiration: How much growth would we like to see?

4. Value-Added Model How it Works Class, School, Program, etc. Projected Achievement What a student would have most likely achieved under typical district growth. Actual Achievement Math 24 Score 28 Statistical Comparison Value-added impact Students and their historical achievement

5. The Meaning of Growth ECRA promotes the use of Growth Percentiles. Growth percentiles express the difference between projected and actual achievement as a percentile. This enables schools and districts to: Identify which students are at risk of not making grade-level proficiency Examine which teachers, programs, and/or interventions are positively affecting student growth Communicate the comparison of model projections to actual achievement. Document whether each student ’s growth was similar to, greater than, or less than typical growth Set rigorous but attainable individual student growth targets.

6. Value-Added Growth Models: Steps Below are the steps necessary to develop a value-added growth model. Use anchor years to develop a model that quantifies the typical growth for any individual student, given that student ’s prior record of achievement. Use the model to project the most likely future achievement for every student. Compare model projections to actual achievement. Identify which summative assessments will be incorporated into your model. Choose anchor years – the multiple historical years of data used to develop models.

7. Applications Below are some applications of value-added growth models: Program evaluation Board governance Individual student growth targeting Teacher and administrator evaluation

8. Examples

9. Growth Model Development

10. Growth Model Development

11. Applications: Individual Student Growth Targets

12. Applications: Individual Student Growth Targets

13. Applications: Teacher Evaluations

14. Applications: Teacher Evaluations

15. Applications: Teacher Evaluations

16. Applications: Program Evaluation Achievement growth for students in this program was typical of similar students not in the program. 21 st Century Learning Program

17. Applications: Program Evaluation Achievement growth for students in this program was greater than typical growth of similar students. Reading Support Program

18. Applications: Leadership and Board Governance The model can be applied to all district schools, programs, courses and interventions to quantify the student achievement return on investment. Example Program # Students Served Financial Allocation Achievement Return (value added ACT points) Reading Support 112 $250,000 0.8 21 st Century Learning 248 $780,000 0.1 Summer Academy 58 $112,000 1.5 …