Estimating teacher value-added from schools’ internal assessments in England

This study investigated the acceptability and feasibility of estimating reliable and valid Value-Added Models (VAMs) in England for the evaluation of school interventions and different teacher training routes. Datasets already available in English primary and secondary schools were explored to examine whether they could inform and support the evaluation of school interventions and different training routes. The originality of this study also lies in the use of end-of-year assessments and data which are already available and collected by schools in England. Furthermore, this study suggests a three-step assessment quality check framework for researchers and school data managers, which could be implemented before proceeding with any analysis of the school assessment data. The key finding of this study is that it is acceptable and feasible to estimate aggregated teacher impact with VAMs for evaluation of interventions and policies. This suggests that it is possible to maximise the use of available school data for evaluating the effectiveness of different interventions to support evidence-based decision-making.