Estimation and interpretation of teacher value added in research applications

This chapter reviews and synthesizes the research literature on teacher value added. In the context of models that estimate teacher value added to student achievement in U.S. elementary and middle schools—which is the most common context of value-added research to date—we cover the topics of model design, bias, stability, and effect sizes. We then expand our review to address four increasingly common applications: (1) teacher effects in high schools, (2) teacher effects on nontest outcomes, (3) teacher effects outside of the United States, and (4) the effects of nonteaching personnel in schools. We conclude by reviewing the literature on research applications of value added and highlighting promising areas for future work.