J.R. Lockwood, Harold Doran, and Daniel McCaffrey
R Foundation for Statistical Computing
December 2003
Interested in value-added models for gauging student achievement? Ready to digest something highly technical? J.R. Lockwood, Harold Doran, and Daniel F. McCaffrey have a challenging treat for you, a 7-page article in R News (published by the R Foundation for Statistical Computing) that explains, Doran says, how "all of the most common value added models...can be fit using a particular software package called R." The models "range from the most simple to the most complex, the [Tennessee value-added] system. . . . This article differs from others in that 'it shows how to' rather than describing what they are 'in theory' or what benefits they present." I'm not competent to validate (or refute) this assertion but perhaps you or a colleague can meet that challenge. Given the widespread view (everywhere except in the No Child Left Behind act) that value-added analyses are the fairest way to gauge student progress and school (and teacher) effectiveness, all contributions to their development are welcome. Find this one at http://cran.r-project.org/doc/Rnews/Rnews_2003-3.pdf.
