What is Value-Added Analysis?
Value-added analysis is a statistical method used to measure the influence of a district and school on the academic progress rates of individual students and groups of students from year-to-year.

Recognizing the many benefits of measuring students' individual academic progress from year-to-year and wanting to provide schools with a tool to measure student progress, the Pennsylvania State Board of Education passed a resolution in 2002 to adopt a value-added approach across the Commonwealth. This approach is called the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System (PVAAS).

In response to the resolution, the Pennsylvania Department of Education collaborated with SAS in Cary, North Carolina to provide the statistical analysis of data. SAS is the world's largest privately-held software company and is the leader in integrating data warehousing, analytics and traditional business intelligence applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. SAS solutions are used at more than 40,000 sites including 96 of the top 100 companies on the FORTUNE Global 500 and more than 2,000 educational institutions.

PVAAS is intended to serve as one tool in the cadre of tools provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for districts and schools. PVAAS is a measure of growth/ progress and is intended to serve as a complement to existing achievement measures. These data will be available for all school districts to use for local decision-making as seen appropriate by the school district. PVAAS is not a tool for teacher accountability. Teacher-level data are not required as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Education's implementation of PVAAS. Pennsylvania has not collected teacher linkages to student achievement data; therefore, it is not possible to provide teacher level analyses.

By measuring the academic achievement of students and the academic progress of students, schools and districts will have a more robust and comprehensive picture of their effectiveness in raising student achievement. Valued-added analysis offers an objective and more precise way to measure student progress and the value schools and districts add to students' educational experiences.

With value-added information, teachers will be able to:

• Monitor the progress of all students from low-achieving to high-achieving ensuring growth opportunities for all students
• Engage in professional dialogue with a focus on achievement and progress
• Begin grade level discussions regarding instructional practices that result in higher levels of student growth

With value-added information, districts and schools are able to:

• Determine if a year's worth of growth was made at each grade level in reading and math
• Identify which groups of students (advanced, proficient, basic, below basic) are making more or less than the expected amount of growth in a given school year
• Look at the progress/ growth of different subgroups of students
• Identify students at-risk for not meeting proficiency on a future PSSA
• Use progress data with achievement data at parent/ teacher conferences
• Use progress data with achievement data to make local decision-making practices

Approximately 100 pilot districts provided a foundation of knowledge and experience for statewide implementation.  In the fall of 2006, the districts in Pennsylvania that were not involved in the PVAAS pilot received access to limited reports.  As the system evolves and PSSA data increases, PVAAS will provide increasingly comprehensive reporting beginning in the fall of 2007.

For additional information on PVAAS and value-added professional development opportunities and resources, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Educations web site at www.pde.state.pa.us, email at pdepvaas@iu13.org or call (717)560-4611