San Diego’s school system is planning to use value-added data to…identify students who are most at risk of dropping out and need extra help. Using five years of data, a detailed account of a student performance will be created. “It’s a tool that will allow us to predict which kids are at risk for dropping out with a certain degree of accuracy,” Deputy Superintendent Chuck Morris tells the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We’ll be able to predict which students would have trouble with algebra as early as fifth or sixth grade.”
A student’s scores on state standardized tests and other assessments would be compared with other students districtwide. If a student shares some of the same performance trends as those who have encountered problems, the district would offer extra help.
It’s refreshing to hear value-added discussed in terms of its benefit to students, rather than as a cudgel. Incidentally, California law forbids the use of student performance in teacher evaluations.
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