Test scores at the floor of a test's score scale contain real information about students' performance, so floor scores do not distort teacher value-added estimates¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr?·q2
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2017: tool and model accuracy changes quickly
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
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This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Students who score at the floor of a test in one year score at or near the bottom of the scale, on average, in other years, indicating floor scores contain real information about student performance. → Alexandra Resch 2014
Evidence¶
Alexandra Resch 2014¶
Alexandra Resch, Eric Isenberg. (2014). How Do Test Scores at the Floor and Ceiling Affect Value-Added Estimates? Working Paper 33. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/how-do-test-scores-at-the-floor-and-ceiling-affect-value-added-estimates
q2 · i? · associational · r?
Analysis of data from a large urban district finds that "students who score at the floor in one year score at or near the bottom of the scale, on average, in other years," so floor scores are informative rather than uninformative for value-added estimation.
"test scores at the floor contain real information about students' performance, because students who score at the floor in one year score at or near the bottom of the scale, on average, in other years"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Some educators are concerned that students scoring at the bottom or top of a test's score distribution will negatively affect the value-added estimates of those students' teachers — related
- The lower a test's score ceiling, the more teacher value-added estimates shrink toward the average teacher, because ceiling scores contain imprecise information about achievement — related
- Multiple-choice state tests are prone to ceiling and floor effects and do not measure higher-order skills well — reports the opposite
- The paper clarifies confusion about the use of value-added information in teacher evaluation — a broader claim this one bears on
- Reliability of state test scores is highest near cut-scores or the mean and much lower for very high- or low-performing students — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
floor-test-scores-contain-real-information-value-added |
title |
Test scores at the floor of a test's score scale contain real information about students' performance, so floor scores do not distort teacher value-added estimates |
description |
Test scores at the floor of a test's score scale contain real information about students' performance, so floor scores do not distort teacher value-added estimates |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2014 |
recheck_by |
2017 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — alexandra-resch-2014 |
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