Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and Teachers

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 11 claims (9 for, 1 mixed, 1 against) · 6 studies (5 associational, 1 design), q1–q3 · 0 of 6 report an effect size · 11 claims rest on one study

Description

A district accountability assessment system prepared for and run by District of Columbia Public Schools to estimate school and teacher value added.

Components

• Value-added models for measuring school and teacher effectiveness in DC Public Schools (IMPACT and TEAM), 2010-2011: This report presents the value-added models used in the District of Columbia Public Schools' IMPACT and TEAM effectiveness systems for the 2010-2011 school year. As the report states, it "presents the value-added models used to measure school and teacher effectiveness in the District of Columbia Public Schools in the 2010-2011 school year." It was prepared for DC Public Schools under the Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and Teachers project (time frame 2009-2015). (Eric Isenberg (2011))
• Urban school district value-added specification comparison (Working Paper 15): A working paper analyzing urban school district data to investigate whether value-added model specifications—track indicators or classroom-characteristic controls—eliminate potential bias from student sorting into academic tracks. It was prepared for District of Columbia Public Schools as part of a "Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and Teachers" project (2009-2015). The paper compares specifications by subject and grade level and examines effects on estimate precision and distribution tails. (Ali Protik et al. (2013))
• Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and Teachers (2009–2015 project context): The article is associated with the project "Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and Teachers," with a stated time frame of 2009–2015, prepared for District of Columbia Public Schools. It investigates empirical Bayes shrinkage of teacher value-added estimates within this district accountability context, examining how the adjustment relates to teachers of students with hard-to-predict achievement levels. (Mariesa Herrmann et al. (2016))

Claims

• Applying the Full Roster-Plus Method instead of the Full Roster Method produces very small empirical differences in value-added estimates in District of Columbia Public Schools data [+W]
• Accounting for mean and standard deviation of classroom achievement may reduce bias for middle school math teachers [+W]
• Including track indicators and classroom achievement controls simultaneously reduces precision of value-added estimates [+W]
• Alternative value-added specifications produce substantially different teacher estimates but small changes in distribution tails [+W]
• Including track indicators in value-added models may reduce tracking-related bias for high school reading teachers [+W]
• Teachers of students with low prior achievement and who receive free lunch tend to have less precise value-added estimates [+W]
• Shrinkage could differentially affect consequences for teachers of fewer students or students with hard-to-predict achievement [+W]
• Shrinkage had no statistically significant effect on the relative probability that teachers of hard-to-predict students received consequences [+W]
• Mathematica designed a method to identify effective schools for a consortium of 99 charter schools in 18 states and the District of Columbia in the project's first year. [+W]
• Rapid guessing did not appear to substantively affect teacher value-added estimates under the value-added specifications used [~W]
• Up to 26% of teachers in the bottom value-added quintile under one specification are ranked higher under another specification [-W]

Related Products and Programmes

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Key Sources

• Eric Isenberg, Heinrich Hock. (2011). Design of Value-Added Models for IMPACT and TEAM in DC Public Schools, 2010-2011 School Year. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/design-of-valueadded-models-for-impact-and-team-in-dc-public-schools-20102011-school-year
• Eric Isenberg, Bing-ru Teh, Elias Walsh. (2013). Elementary School Data Issues: Implications for Research Using Value-Added Models. Working Paper 23, Chicago, IL: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/elementary-school-data-issues-implications-for-research-using-valueadded-models
• Ali Protik, Elias Walsh, Alexandra Resch, Eric Isenberg, Emma Kopa. (2013). Does Tracking of Students Bias Value-Added Estimates for Teachers? Working Paper 15. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/does-tracking-of-students-bias-value-added-estimates-for-teachers
• Mariesa Herrmann, Elias Walsh, Eric Isenberg. (2016). Shrinkage of Value-Added Estimates and Characteristics of Students with Hard-to-Predict Achievement Levels. Statistics and Public Policy, vol. 3, issue 1. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/ja-shrinkage-of-valueadded-estimates-and-characteristics-of-students-with-hardtopredict

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	value-added-assessment-system-for-dc-schools-and-teachers
title	Value-Added Assessment System for DC Schools and Teachers
description	A district accountability assessment system prepared for and run by District of Columbia Public Schools to estimate school and teacher value added.
status	review
moved_from	element/dc-value-added-assessment-system, element/dcps-impact-team-value-added-models-2010-2011, element/value-added-assessment-system-dc-project, element/value-added-tracking-bias-specification-comparison
product_kind	assessment
generated	by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	4 — eric-isenberg-2011, eric-isenberg-2013, ali-protik-2013, mariesa-herrmann-2016

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