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National Conference on Value-Added Modeling

April 22-24, 2008
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Fluno Center, 601 University Ave.

Value-added modeling (VAM) is being used increasingly as a tool of education research and accountability systems, yet little is known about the validity and reliability of the results or the potential of VAM to improve education practice. The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) is commissioning original research and organizing a national conference to address some of the most important technical issues surrounding VAM, as well as their implications for education policy. The research papers, conference, and related activities will focus on two interrelated issues: how VAM can be used to identify effective policies and practices (school improvement) and how it can be used to identify effective teachers and schools (accountability).

The conference will bring together prominent researchers from different disciplinary perspectives— sociology, economics, educational measurement, statistics, and education policy.  Although participants at the conference will include some of the most technically sophisticated VAM researchers in the country, the conference is designed specifically to inform education policy. VAM will not be an acceptable tool for either school improvement or accountability if researchers disagree about how the models should be estimated. Even if there is agreement, VAM will not fulfill its promise if the estimates are not valid and reliable. The technical issues mentioned above are therefore closely interrelated with the policy issues.

Co-Chairs:
    Douglas N. Harris, Adam Gamoran, Stephen Raudenbush

Program Committee:
    Henry Braun, JR Lockwood, Robert Meyer, Tim R. Sass

Funders:
    Carnegie Corporation, Joyce Foundation, Spencer Foundation

Contact:
     Mary Tedeschi, mltedesc@wisc.edu, (608) 263-4244

Conference Agenda and Papers

Lodging Information (PDF)

Click here to register (Registration closes Wednesday April 16).