While the costs and benefits of annual tests were debated at great length last year, analysts of the new "No Child Left Behind" education legislation are getting more excited about an opportunity created by those tests: the ability to identify effective schools and teachers using annual test scores. In a 9-page paper for the Lexington Institute, Robert Holland explains how statistical analysis of annual testing data can determine how much value teachers add to the learning of individual students. In the paper, Holland traces the development of the value-added assessment system developed by Bill Sanders in Tennessee, provides an example of a teacher report from this assessment system for an individual teacher, and compares the Tennessee model with a different statistical model used in other districts. Once these techniques are honed, we will have a fair and objective system for identifying the most effective teachers and schools, which will bring much-needed praise to teachers and schools that do a superior job helping low achieving students, Holland writes. "Indispensable Tests: How a Value-Added Approach to School Testing Cold Identify and Bolster Exceptional Teaching," by Robert Holland, Lexington Institute, December 2001. William J. Bennett and Chester E. Finn, Jr., make many of the same points in "Adding Value to Education," an op-ed that appeared in The Washington Times on December 20, 2001. (available for a fee at www.washingtontimes.com)
